Singers and Superheroes
by griggles
Summary: AU. Just your average Bechloe story. With one significant exception: Batman is heavily involved. How will Beca's Gotham upbringing affect her in her new college environment? Can the former superhero move into a normal college life with a not so normal redhead as her new sidekick?
1. Chapter 1

I had a crazy idea today. I wanted to combine Pitch Perfect with the biggest opposite I could possibly think of. And then it hit me: Batman. So I'm gonna tackle this very random combination of two of my favorite stories just for the fun of it. Sometimes inspiration just hits, and today that happened. One important note, I made the conscious decision not to classify this as a crossover. Because it isn't, it's a Pitch Perfect story that happens to involve Batman as a supporting character. Anyway, if nothing else this is the most creative combination you'll see all day. I have no idea how far I'll actually take this, if the response isn't good I might just scrap it, but it's a fun idea and if people like it I'll see where it goes. Enjoy!

* * *

"I should be about 20 or 30 minutes, you can leave and come back if you want,"

"Sounds good, I'll be back in 20, say hello to the old man for me."

Beca gave a curt nod as she exited the car to a familiar site. She'd spent a good portion of her childhood at Wayne Manor, and she wanted to be sure she said goodbye to two very important people before leaving for college the next day. She absorbed the surrounding area before ringing the door.

"Rebecca! This is an unexpected pleasure," the old man smiled.

"You're never going to accept that I prefer being called Beca are you uncle Alfred?"

"I'm afraid not, my sister gave you a name and I will abide by it."

Beca rolled her eyes. Alfred never failed to make her laugh with his dry, sarcastic wit. Though he was 15 years her senior, Alfred Pennyworth loved his sister as much as anything in the world and as such, treated his niece with the same caring nature he had used to raise her godfather.

"So is Bruce home? I figured I'd talk to him first since I'm guessing it won't take very long."

"Yes Master Wayne is downstairs, but be warned, he may not be too keen to see you at the moment."

"Oh really? And why is that?"

"He's having a bit of a... clown problem."

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

* * *

Beca never got tired of walking through the grandfather clock and down into the Batcave. To the rest of the world, it was a mythical place whose very existence was a source of debate, but to Beca, it was where she spent her formative years. When her father left seven years earlier, Bruce sensed a kindred spirit in Beca and began teaching her karate as a means of displacing her anger. It only took a few weeks for Beca to put the pieces together: a billionaire in Gotham with the ability to kill a man with his bare hands? He had to be the Batman. He agreed to continue teaching her so long as she kept his secret, which she readily agreed to.

"Bruce?" Beca could hardly be surprised when her spandex-clad godfather didn't even turn around from his computer.

"I bet if I were wearing a purple suit you'd give me your full attention."

"What do you want?"

"Well, I'm moving to college tomorrow. I'd kind of hoped to come over and say goodbye."

"You're going to college?" This got Bruce's attention as he spun around in his seat.

"So this is how you sneak something past the world's greatest detective," Beca deadpanned, "stick it right under his nose."

"Well I just find it hard to believe considering you barely graduated high school."

"Well whose fault is that!"

Bruce didn't have a response, it was true. In the two years she spent patrolling the streets with the caped crusader (in Barbara Gordon's hand-me-down suit) he'd constantly reminded her of one of his strictest codes: "the criminals don't sleep so neither do we." Between her late night extra curricular activities and the music she refused to give up Beca hardly had time to do such trivial things as homework.

"Exactly."

"Where are you even going anyway?"

"Barden."

"Your father's school? Of all places?"

"Well I couldn't exactly get in anywhere else."

"I would have made some calls for you. Gotham State would have taken you."

"No thanks. I want no part of this life anymore. I want to go far, far away."

"So you're going to college? What happened to that DJ fantasy of yours."

"Believe me it wasn't my idea. Mom wanted me to have a fallback."

"You could have just stayed here. I have plenty for you to do."

"You say that like she knows about what we do at night."

"I would have offered you something at Wayne Enterprises. Sarah would have been fine with that."

"Because I'd just love to be your secretary. 'Hello this is Bruce Wayne's office how can I help you? What's that you say? You've got a bomb and you're going to destroy the city? Well I'll be sure to mention that to Mr. Wayne'. Mom just wants me to see what else is out there. I'm not staying in Gotham forever. Too many bad memories."

"Thrilling. Now if you'll excuse me I have work to do."

"A pleasure as always Bruce."

* * *

Alfred poured a cup of tea as he sat down with Beca.

"Well I must say I'm proud of you. This is a very mature decision."

"You say that like it was mine."

"Well considering your aptitude for disobeying your mother I'd say the fact that she convinced you to do this is a sign of growth. Perhaps all of this time with Master Wayne has rubbed off on you."

"Well he certainly taught me the art of being an antisocial prick."

They laughed. It was true, though neither was sure whether Bruce's reclusive nature rubbed off on Beca or if the two were simply similar, but what couldn't be denied was that they shared several important mannerisms.

"So why Barden? I can't imagine you look forward to spending time with your father."

"It's been seven years uncle Alfred. I don't want to live my life haunted by parents like Bruce. I'm not particularly excited about it, but I think I need to get to a point where I can comfortably be in the same room with him."

"A noble goal indeed Rebecca. Well I wish you the best of luck during your university experience and hopefully I will see you for the holidays."

"We'll figure something out. Goodbye uncle Alfred." Beca squeezed him in a tight hug before heading towards the car. Gotham might be a bit of a mixed bag, but Beca was going to miss it.

* * *

Beca halfheartedly perused the booths at the activities fair. She wasn't quite sure why she was there, she only left her room because of her father. "_So much for being in the same room with him_," Beca thought. She didn't particularly plan on being the big girl on campus. She was here to get a degree to please her mother, and if she could pick up some DJing experience at the campus radio station all the better. But joining clubs and being social? Not exactly her thing. Still, she couldn't help but at least be intrigued when she ran into bubbly redhead with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen.

"Hi! Do you have any interest in joining our a capella group?"

"Oh... right... this is like... a thing now?"

"Oh tots, we sing covers of songs but we do it without using any instruments. It's all from our mouths."

"_I've never seen anyone this excited about anything in my whole life,_" Beca thought.

Beca's mind drifted off as this mystery redhead introduced her to the other groups on campus.

"So, are you interested?"

Beca had to quickly snap out of it when she realized she was staring.

"Sorry... but it's pretty lame."

This was Beca's natural response to everything. She'd made a habit out of denying social invitations out of necessity, and though she was actually moderately intrigued by the idea of singing with these girls old habits die hard. She laughed off the blonde's criticism and walked away, slightly regretful at what she'd done. The look on that girl's face when she declined the opportunity to "help her dreams become a reality" was by far the greatest combination of sad and adorable she'd ever seen.

"_I really need to find a way to see that redhead again_," she thought.

* * *

"Funny, this doesn't look your intro to philosophy class."

Beca rolled out of bed to see her father staring down at her.

"I'm posing an important philosophical question. If I don't actually go to that class will it still suck?"

"Come on Beca you need to take this at least somewhat seriously. I mean do you have any friends here?"

"Kimmy Jin is my friend."

The two girls shared a quick death glare before Beca returned to face her father.

"Come on, this isn't what you mom wanted when she asked you to go to college."

"I'm pretty sure she didn't want her husband to leave her either but we can't always get what we want."

"Seriously Beca. Join a club, make some friends, make real memories."

"Sorry, but the whole college experience isn't really my thing."

"I'll tell you what, if I see that you put in a real effort and you really try to make something of this year, then I will try to convince your mother to let you drop out of school and try this whole DJ thing."

* * *

Beca loved singing in the shower. Singing in the Batcave was expressly forbidden, and she had so few chances to musically express herself otherwise that it had become a bit of a guilty pleasure. She thought about joining a group in high school, but the combination of actually spending time with other people and the fact that she'd have to quit within weeks due to her other engagements quickly put an end to that idea. She was musically frustrated, and though she spent plenty of time on her computer creating it, it never quite filled the void of not being able to make it herself, with her own voice.

"You can sing!"

Beca's reaction was immediate. As soon as she heard the voice Chloe was pinned against the wall of the shower.

"Oh my god sorry! Don't ever sneak up on me like that, it's kind of a force of habit for me to react that way."

Chloe just laughed it off. How could she be so relaxed?

"I'll tell you what, just answer a couple of questions and we'll call it even."

"Umm... ok?"

"How high does your belt go?"

"My what?"

"Your belt."

"... I'm not sure?"

"You were singing Titanium right?"

"You know David Guetta?"

"Have I been living under a rock? Yea. That song is my jam. My _lady_ jam."

It certainly didn't help Beca's nerves that Chloe was looking at her rather seductively.

"Can you sing it for me?"

Beca rolled her eyes.

"_I guess I don't have a choice_," she thought, "_otherwise she might press charges._"

Chloe joined in as soon as Beca started singing. She had to admit, they sounded great together. She could definitely get used to this. Suddenly there was an awkward silence as they finished.

"Oh," Chloe said with a smile, gesturing over her body, "I'm pretty confident about all this."

Beca didn't quite know how to react.

"You should be."

"See you auditions!"

* * *

Well there it is, the combination of random inspiration and a bit of extra free time. Hope everyone likes it! And seriously if you do please review! I don't know if I want to continue this because it's such a ridiculous idea, but if people want me to I will.


	2. Chapter 2

Response has been kind of lukewarm on chapter 1, so I'll give it a second and see how things look from there before I decide if I want to keep going with it. It's a fun idea but combining these two completely different things is hard. Not to be an ass about it but I'll probably just go back to fluff if this doesn't work out. Anyway here's the second chapter, hope you enjoy!

* * *

Beca still couldn't believe she was actually doing this. Going to college in itself seemed weird enough, but auditioning for an a capella group? Several people back home would have a good laugh over that one, but if she wanted the chance to leave early she had to get involved and this was her chance. And besides, spending more time with shower girl didn't seem like a terrible idea either.

"Oh wait, there's one more," Chloe said as Beca peeked her head out from behind the curtain.

"Umm... I didn't know we had to prepare that song."

"That's ok, you can sing anything you want."

Beca motioned for the cup sitting on the audition table. She may not have spent much time singing, but she had a bit of a gift for percussion. It took her several of her very rare days off, but she managed to learn this routine strictly through YouTube. She could tell that her redheaded admirer enjoyed it. The uptight blonde directly to her left? Well... not so much. Still, she couldn't help but feel at least a little optimistic about her chances.

* * *

"_Coming to your room to kidnap you for initiation night, thought I'd give you a head's up so you don't attack me this time ;)_," Beca's phone buzzed.

"_How the hell did she get this number_?" Beca thought.

"_Swiped your phone while you were still in the shower. And it's Chloe by the way, but then you probably gathered that from the name above the text._"

"_Do I have a choice in the matter? I don't really like the idea of getting kidnapped._"

"_Nope, sorry. Tradition. Be there in 10 :)._"

"Great," Beca mumbled.

* * *

"That was the second weirdest initiation I've ever been to," Beca groaned to the woman to her right.

"Second? What was first?"

"... Some other time. I'm Beca by the way."

"Cynthia Rose. So... excited to be a Bella?"

"Yea, a little bit. It's kind of weird you know? Like I didn't picture myself doing this."

"It's college! A time for experimenting and having fun! Speaking of which, the redhead's looking awfully... adventurous... tonight."

"I doubt either of us are her type."

"You don't know do you?"

"Know what?"

"Well I can't say this for sure, but let's just say I've heard that Chloe plays for both teams."

"Really?" Beca couldn't help but be surprised by this revelation. She'd only seen Chloe with a guy.

"She's up for anything," Cynthia Rose winked, "and I do mean anything."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Beca was as repressed sexually as she was musically. She'd just never had a chance to really explore that part of herself. Bruce had expressly forbidden dating for Batgirl after everything that happened between her predecessor and Robin. Not that Beca could really complain, it just wasn't a side of herself she'd ever really thought about. Even if she had, she knew she didn't have the time or emotional capacity to handle a real relationship. Although that didn't stop a certain Treblemaker from trying.

"Beca! Beca! Becawwwwww! Becawwwwww! Do my eyes deceive me or are you a Barden Bella?"

"No."

"You're one of those a capella girls. I'm one of those a capella boys. And we're gonna have aca children. It's inevitable."

"You're really drunk right now, I don't think you're gonna remember any of this," Beca couldn't help but feel a twinge of curiosity. She'd never had a drink in her entire life. She was at college after all, now was probably the time to try it. Her phone suddenly buzzed.

"_You're underage, don't even think about it._"

"_How does he always do that?_" She thought.

"I'm not drunk you're just blurry."

"Could you pass a sobriety test right now? Can you stand up straight?" She pushed him just a little bit to see what would happen.

"See how I come right back? Aaaaaaaaand I come right back."

"Wow."

"Can I get you a drink?"

"I'm ok."

"I'm gonna get you a drink."

"Go for it but don't be surprised when I don't drink it."

"I think you need to get on this level."

"Please be careful," was all she could get out before getting accosted by a certain ginger.

"Hi!" she said as she pulled Beca in so close that their lips were almost touching.

"_I guess she is up for anything,_" she thought.

"I am soooooooo glad that I met you. I think that we're gonna be really fast friends."

"Yea, well, you saw me naked so..."

"Well you assaulted my naked body so I think the feeling is mutual," Chloe said with a wink.

"Alright, well I'm gonna go get a drink. This ginger needs her jiggle juice!" She playfully slapped her own ass as she walked away.

"Make good choices."

* * *

Beca had jumped off of rooftops, fought super villains, defused bombs and been shot out of a cannon, but nothing could prepare her for rehearsal with Aubrey. Even in her nearly perfect physical condition, she was exhausted. She could only imagine how it must have been for the others. She was going to need a nice long rest after that. She headed back to her room when she saw a text.

"_A capella? Really?_"

"_How do you even know these things?_"

"_I make it my business to know._"

"_Well a little bit of privacy would be nice. And if you must know my dad told me to get more involved with school and he might convince mom to let me go to LA._"

"_I know when you're lying even when I can't see you._"

"_It's fun alright? Are you happy?_"

"_I'm never happy._"

"_I'm making friends, living my life, not brooding in a cave wearing a cape. You should try it some time._"

This of course elicited no response. She couldn't help but laugh. It was the little victories like this that made her former occupation worth while. Beating the Batman in an argument was an accomplishment few could claim. As a reward for her victory she decided to spend the rest of the afternoon ignoring her classes to mix music. In other words, it was an average Monday. She had barely begun when she felt two warm hands cover her eyes.

"Guess whooooooooooooo."

"You know how I feel about surprises."

"Well we're just going to have to change that aren't we."

"No, we aren't."

"You're awfully mysterious and sullen you know that? What made you so averse to fun."

"Gotham is a mean town."

"You grew up in Gotham? That's so exciting!"

"Exciting seems like the right word," Beca didn't exactly want to have this conversation right now, but she knew Chloe wouldn't let up so she decided to try to turn the tables, "so where are you from?"

"Athens Georgia born and raised," Chloe beamed, "I'm a small town girl so I get excited when I meet people from the big city."

"Naturally."

"So what's it like?"

"It's big, it's loud, and it's mean. It's like the Aubrey of cities."

"Oh come on rehearsal couldn't have been that bad today."

"Says the girl who spent most of it holding a clipboard and instructing people."

"Well I happen to have a gift for teaching. It is my major after all."

"Thrilling. Now if you'll excuse me I really have work to do."

"Really? What are you doing?"

"Mixing music. I'm kind of a DJ."

"That's so cool!"

"I guess it is."

"Wanna show me how?"

"Not really. I don't have your knack for teaching."

"Well the way I look it you can either teach me how to do that or you can let me kidnap you to go have some fun like I originally planned. It's your call."

"You know not many people have gotten away with kidnapping me _once_. You're now trying to do it twice. You're quite ballsy I've give you that."

"What can I say, I live life on the edge. So are we going or what?"

"You're really not gonna let up are you?"

"Nope. Come on, at least come get a bite to eat with me."

"Fine, you win, let's go,"

* * *

"I'll have a cheeseburger and fries please."

"Just a cup of coffee for me," Beca added.

"So, how does a big city girl like you end up down here at Barden?"

"My dad teaches here."

"Really? How did that work if you grew up in Gotham?"

"My parents got divorced when I was 11, we sort of lost contact after that. I wasn't a great student in high school so my college options were somewhat limited, so he got me in here and now is trying to work his way back into my life."

"Oh I'm so sorry, it must have been tough growing up without your dad around. If it's any consolation I know what it's like"

"Really?"

"Yea, my dad passed away when I was only a baby. My mom is amazing and my big brothers helped, but it does suck that I never really got to know him."

"Yea, it's nice that you had other family though. I had my uncle and godfather, so that really helped."

"Well that's good. What are they like?"

"My uncle's great. Really caring, hardworking guy. As for my godfather... well... I'd rather not talk about him."

"Why? Is he a criminal?"

"Oh no, completely the opposite."

"So he's like a superhero or something?"

"_Shit,_" she thought, "well... I wouldn't go that far. Let's just say you might have heard of him."

"Hmm... people I might have heard of in Gotham... is it Jim Gordon?"

"Nope."

"Lucius Fox?"

"No, and please stop guessing."

"Come on, give me one more," Beca couldn't resist that pout. Chloe had a way of subtly manipulating her in a totally benevolent way. It was eery, but at the same time somewhat comforting. Nobody had made her feel this way before. Like she was entirely a slave to her emotions yet totally fine with it.

"Ok fine, one more."

"Ok, let's see. Someone famous in Gotham... who could it be," Chloe's eyes suddenly lit up and she started pounding the table, "YOUR GODFATHER IS BRUCE WAYNE!"

"Shhh! Not so loud!"

"Oh my god are you serious?" Chloe whispered.

"Well you don't have to whisper."

"I'm sorry that's just so cool!"

"You kind of get over it after awhile."

"But I mean... It's Bruce Wayne! He's like to most charming person in the history of people. And he's so rich! Did he buy you like a Bentley for your 16th birthday?"

"No, he's never spoiled me. Well either that or his money is just tied up in other things."

"So have you been to Wayne Manor?"

"I practically grew up there."

"I can't even get over how cool this is. Did you get to meet any of his famous girlfriends? Oh my god there must have been so many celebrities at that house. The only serious one I can remember was... I think it was Selina something?"

"Kyle. Selina Kyle. She's... a friend. And yea, I've met my fair share of big names."

"This is like the coolest thing I've ever heard. I still can't believe this. I mean seriously how could you leave all of that behind?"

"I guess I just wanted other things."

"Someday you have to introduce me."

"We'll see. But seriously, can you please not tell anyone? I don't want this to become like a big thing. I kind of want to remain an anonymous college student. I don't want people to think of me just as his goddaughter. That's one of the reasons I left."

"Of course. I get that. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

* * *

And there's chapter two. I'm having fun writing this, but with school starting up again and my actual job I really don't know how far I can take it. I really need to see a big response here. So please, review, review, review!


	3. Chapter 3

Well, I asked for a response and I got one. I honestly made the decision to stop with this, but you guys have so overwhelmingly supported it that I just couldn't. Well that, and I really am loving writing this. It's really fun crafting a story with these two completely different sets of characters. Anyway, without all of your support this story would be dead, so I wanted to thank you all for convincing me to keep going. Keep it up! Oh, and one more thing. People have complained in the past about my using song lyrics too much, but please actually read them this time as they are pertinent to the story. Anyway, enjoy and please keep reviewing!

* * *

"_The Hangover_ or _Saw_?"

"_Hangover._"

"Really? I was sort of in the mood for a horror movie."

"Sorry, but I don't like clowns."

Beca still couldn't believe where she was. Spending an evening watching movies with Chloe? Before coming to Barden she hadn't watched one in what felt like years, but Chloe had a way of getting her to do things she didn't want to and actually enjoying them. Beca wasn't quite sure whether that was a gift or a curse.

"You sure? You can hide in my arms when it gets too scary," Chloe said as cuddled up against Beca.

"Yea I'm still gonna pass. And what did I say about personal space?"

"That you didn't like people touching you?"

"Exactly."

"But what was my response?"

"That you would make me like it when you touched me."

"Exactly."

Beca rolled her eyes as Chloe nuzzled further into her side.

"Admit it, you like it when we cuddle."

"I'll admit no such thing."

"Saaaaayyyyyyy ittttttttttt."

"Nope."

"The sooner you say it the sooner I give you your personal space," Beca sighed.

"Ok fine. I guess... having you around isn't such a bad thing."

"See? Now was that so hard?"

"Yes, it was. And what happened to giving me my personal space? You're still holding on to me like I'm a life preserver."

"Well I would let you go," Chloe smirked, "but you just told me how much you love it. Who am I to deprive a friend of something they love?"

"You're devious you know that?"

"The smile on your face says different."

"_Am I smiling?_" Beca asked herself.

"I rest my case."

"You will do no such thing. This isn't over."

"Is that a challenge?"

"That's a threat."

"Well Beca Mitchell, you asked for it," Suddenly Chloe was on top of Beca tickling her. She easily could have gotten her off, but quickly decided against it. She told herself it was because she didn't want to hurt her, but deep down she knew a part of her really enjoyed it. This wasn't just a playful sensation, Beca was feeling things she'd never felt before.

"Hahahaha stop it hahahahaha!"

"Not until you admit how much you love it!"

"Never hahahahaha!"

"Well then the tickle monster will never release you from her mighty grip!"

"Hahahahaha ok! You win hahahhahaha! I love having you on top of me hahahahahaha!"

"Your honesty has earned you your freedom," Chloe fell off of Beca in a fit of laughter, "I just made Beca Mitchell laugh."

"Beca Mitchell does not laugh. She broods. At best, she smirks."

"Right, says the girl who just admitted how much she loved it when I tickle her."

"I believe my exact words were that I loved having you on top of me. Where did I mention tickling?"

"It was implied. You can't get enough ginger can you?"

"Well try as I might I can't seem to shake you."

"We make quite a team. Speaking of which, are you ready for SBT tomorrow?"

"Ready as I'm gonna be I guess."

"You sound nervous."

"It's just... I've never performed in front of a live audience before. I mean I've done other things, but I've never had to... you know... impress people."

"Nonsense, you'll do fine. I've seen you in practice. You're pretty amazing."

"Thanks, but I think it'd be hard for any of us to be amazing with the set list Aubrey gave us," Chloe was silent.

"You agree with me don't you?"

"Well... I mean she's my best friend... but I guess I see your point."

"So I'm totally right?"

"... Yea."

"So why don't you say something?"

"She'd never listen, she's dead set on those songs. She's stuck on tradition. I mean if we had another idea maybe we could get her to listen, but I don't think she'll ever budge."

"Hmm... hold on," Beca reached into her bag and pulled out a USB, "here, listen to this and tell me what you think."

Chloe stuck the USB into her computer and pressed play. Kanye West started singing the lyrics to _Touch the Sky_, but the music was slower. Chloe couldn't quite put her finger on where it came from, but then Beca's voice took over.

"_I can't stand to fly  
_

_I'm not that naive  
_

_I'm just out to find  
_

_The better part of me,  
_

_I'm more than a bird  
_

_I'm more than a plane  
_

___I'm more than some pretty face beside a train_

___And it's not easy, to be me._"

"Is that you singing?"

"Yup, keep listening."

Chloe was secretly disappointed when _Touch the Sky_ took over after the chorus to _Superman_, but luckily she didn't have to wait long for Beca's voice to return.

"_Wish that I could cry_

___Fall upon my knees_

___Find a way to lie_

___About a home I'll never see_

___It may sound absurd_

___But don't be naive_

___Even heroes have the right to bleed_

___I may be disturbed_

___But won't you concede_

___Even heroes have the right to dream_

___And it's not easy, to be me_"

Chloe was mesmerized. The way the music fit so seamlessly with the lyrics. The way each note seemed to fit so perfectly into the greater picture. But most of all, she was blown away by Beca's voice. She'd heard Beca sing several times, everywhere from in the shower to the auditorium, but never like this. She'd never heard her sing with so much passion. So much soul. It was almost like she was singing to someone. Like there was someone who needed to hear the words.

"So that's what I've been working on. If you didn't like it I've got some other-"

"No! Beca that was amazing. It was like the best thing I've ever heard."

"Really? So you'll show it to Aubrey?"

"Of course I will!"

"Awesome, let's hope she likes it."

"I'm sure she will. Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"I've just... I've never heard you sing like that. With so much heart."

"Yea... well I guess that song just means something to me."

"Were you singing it to someone specific?"

"In a way. It's more just... how I feel. Towards someone I mean."

"Well whoever it is, the world owes them for helping create this masterpiece."

* * *

"I have nodes!"

The entire group stood in disbelief.

"Oh my god."

"I found out this morning."

"What are nodes?" Beca asked.

"Vocal nodules. The rubbing together of your vocal chords at above average rates without proper lubrication."

"They sit on your windpipe and they crush your dreams."

"Isn't that painful? Why would you keep performing?"

"Because I love to sing."

Beca couldn't help but feel for Chloe. Empathy wasn't exactly her thing, but she knew what it meant to fight through pain for something you believe in. She had to at least try to comfort her. She approached her after the group dispersed.

"Hey, are you gonna be ok?"

"I don't know."

"Is there anything you can do about it?" Beca hated asking that question. There was plenty _she_ could do about it, but then opening the Batman's medicine cabinet for a college kid in Georgia just to help her sing didn't exactly scream ethical hero behavior.

"There's a surgery, but it would hurt my register. I wouldn't be able to hit the high notes."

"I'm sorry. Listen... if there's anything I can do, just let me know. I'm here to help."

"Thanks Beca, that means a lot. It's nice to just have a friend to go through this with you know?"

"Of course. And if it's any consolation, I think you'd sound amazing no matter how you sing," Chloe smiled.

"You're so much sweeter than you let on."

"Only for you," Beca winked, "now come on, let's go back to my room and relax."

* * *

"So I'm thinking tonight we'll watch _Titanic_ and _The Notebook_."

"You just love making me sit through chick flicks don't you?"

"You're a chick and we're watching flicks. I fail to see the problem. You're so cute when you pretend to be tough."

"Fine, but you can't tell Jesse how often we do this. I've rejected several of his movie night offers."

"Really? You seem like you have such a toner for him."

"He's not really... my type. He's too goofy."

"So who do you have a toner for?"

"I don't get toners."

"I can tell you're lying," Chloe said in her most sing-songy voice.

"Right," Beca said as she opened the door. She couldn't believe what was waiting behind it. Lying on her bed was a very tall, well built man. He looked up as the girls entered the room.

"Beca?"

"What the hell are you doing here."

"Is that any way to greet your god brother?"

"You'll have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm."

"Well... aren't you going to at least introduce me to your friend?"

"Oh, right. Chloe, this is my... Dick."

Chloe laughed at Beca's choice of words.

"No, no! Grayson! Dick Grayson! This is my god brother, Dick Grayson."

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Grayson."

"Please, call me Dick. So Beca, this is the redhead we've all heard so much about?"

"You talk about me with your family?" Chloe asked, intrigued.

"Dick I haven't talked to you or Bruce in weeks."

"But you talk to Alfred."

"Damn Alfred can't keep a secret for his life," Beca grumbled

"I'd beg to differ," Dick said with a wink, "so Chloe, tell me about yourself. Are you in Beca's a capella group?"

"Yes I am! I'm the second in command."

"That's great. I hope the munchkin here isn't giving you too much trouble."

"I'd kick your ass," Beca mumbled.

"No she's great! In fact I'm trying to convince our captain to give her more input into our song selection. She showed me one of her mixes and-"

"SHE SHOWED YOU ONE OF HER MIXES?"

"Umm... yea? Is that a bad thing?"

"No it's just... I don't believe it. She guards those things with her life. None of us have ever heard them. Not me. Not her mother. Not even Bruce," Chloe's eyes shot directly to Beca.

"Is this true?"

"Well..."

"Come on Becs tell her. She says that they're only for her. She doesn't let anyone get near them. She must really like you if she actually showed you one of her mixes."

"Dick is there a reason you're here?"

"Yes there is. Chloe, it's been a pleasure meeting you, but I do have something I need to talk to Beca about in private. It's kind of a family thing."

"Oh of course. Beca why don't you come by my place when you're done. Dick you're more than welcome to join us for movie night."

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think I can stay. I'm really only here to talk to Beca, then I have to head back out on the road."

"I'm sorry to hear that, well it was nice meeting you!"

"I'll see you in a bit," the annoyance in Beca's tone was clear. The moment Chloe walked out the door Beca snapped.

"Ok what the hell do you want?"

"Geez ease up a bit."

"Well it's not exactly like you to come down to Georgia for an impromptu visit. Or did he send you?"

"Yea, he did. He sent me to bring you home."

"What? Why would he do that?"

"He didn't say, but it seemed important."

"Whatever it is, it's not my problem anymore. He knows that I quit. I don't wear a mask anymore Dick. I'm happy right where I am."

"Oh sure, that's why you're trying to convince your parents to let you leave."

"Jesus Dick do the two of you have any other habits besides spying on me?"

"Believe it or not we have other things on our minds, but that doesn't mean we don't care about you. We just want what's best for you. And right now we think that means coming home."

"Why? So I can help you guys catch Two-Face? Or maybe you want to use me as a distraction while you hunt down Clayface?"

"This isn't about that Beca."

"It's always about that Dick. The sooner you realize that that's how Bruce's mind works the sooner you can move on with your life."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"Just get out of here Dick, I don't want to deal with this right now."

* * *

"Well you look angry."

"You would be to if you'd heard what I just heard."

"What's the matter?"

"It's... kind of a family thing. Bruce wants me to come home and do something I don't want to do."

"What is it?"

"I can't really say."

"Do you just not want to go back to Gotham."

"I don't know. That's a part of it. I just want to put all of that behind me."

"One of these days you're gonna have to clue me in on why you have such an antagonistic relationship with that city," Chloe said with a look conveying both concern and a hint of playfulness to lighten the mood, "but for now, I'm just glad that you're here."

"Me too. Now let's turn on the movie before I change my mind about committing a night to this."

* * *

"What happened?"

"She wouldn't budge," Dick said over the video screen as Bruce sat in the Batcave.

"Not at all. I think she might actually be enjoying herself down there."

"She never enjoys herself. She just doesn't want to come back."

"Can you blame her? After everything that happened, I mean."

"Not really. Did you tell her why she has to come back?"

"No."

"Good. I'd prefer to keep it that way."

"I think you might have to tell her. I don't know if we have another choice, she's not gonna leave unless you go down there and tell her what's really going on."

"That's a last resort. If I have to, I'll go down there and bring her back. Still, I'd rather we stopped this before she ever found out."

"I agree. Anyway I've gotta go. I think I've got a trace on him."

"Good, get to work."

Bruce reached for the mask covering his face.

"_No reason to wear it now,_" he thought.

After a few moments of silence he slowly hit several keys on the Batcave's supercomputer. Suddenly, Beca's voice came on the speakers.

"_I can't stand to fly..."_


	4. Chapter 4

Only major note: there is a fairly violent scene here. It's all in italics so if you want to avoid it that's what you should avoid. Anyway, just keep doing what you've been doing, I've been loving the response. This is gonna be more of a set up chapter, the shit's gonna start to hit the fan in chapter five. But that doesn't mean you get to stop being awesome fans and reviewing! A bit of Beca's past is gonna come out here. Anyway, here's chapter four.

* * *

"Nope."

"I don't see how you can ignore it. It's so obvious."

"It's just wrong."

"Beca come on it's night and day. Like almost literally. I don't think I've ever seen the sun over there."

"We prefer the dark."

"Beca if you can't see that Metropolis is better than Gotham then I just don't know what to do with you," this was a habit of Jesse's during his CD stacking sessions with Beca. Being from Metropolis, he felt the need to rub in Beca's face just how much better things were in his home city.

"It's not! Just because it's big and shiny doesn't mean it's better! It has no character!"

"There's character and then there's just unnecessary crap. For god's sake Gotham is just so dirty."

"You say dirty, we say cozy."

"Ugh you're impossible. At least admit that we have the better hero."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh come on Beca how can you not admit that one. He's Superman! You know, truth, justice and the American way? The world's greatest hero? There's a reason there's an S on my shirt instead of a bat. Bats are just weird."

"Are you stupid or do you just not get what he does?"

"No, please enlighten me."

"Bats scare people. Batman puts the fear of god into criminals. All Superman does is pull kittens off of trees. And by the way, how do they even get there?"

"Ok sure Beca, if Batman's so great then why does Gotham have such a high crime rate?"

"You try keeping up with dozens of super villains without superpowers! Without Batman there would be no Gotham!"

"Geez Bec getting a bit defensive aren't you? Does someone have a toner for the Batman?"

"Ugh I think I just threw up in my mouth. Can we talk about something else?"

"Fine Mrs. Wrong all the time, have you guys been preparing for the riff off?"

"What the hell is a riff off?"

* * *

"Do you have an update?"

"No sign of him. I don't think he wants to be found."

"Great."

"So what are we gonna do? Do you think he'll go after her?"

"Maybe, but then we can't really predict what he's thinking."

"That's right. I can't just sit here and do nothing Bruce. We have to warn her."

"I know."

"So does that mean you're going?"

"Yea. And you're coming with me. Something tells me we could be there for awhile."

* * *

"Damn it Chloe you've been humming that same song forever! I'm getting really sick of it!"

"Sorry Aubrey, it's just so good."

"Chloe that song is over a decade old. What's really going on?"

"So... you know how Beca's a DJ? Like a really good one?"

"Chloe if you're trying to convince me to change the setlist you can forget it."

"No, no. Well, not yet. Just listen to this. I think you'll like it."

Chloe put the USB into Aubrey's laptop and let it play. She could tell by the look on Aubrey's face that she was impressed.

"Is that Beca singing?"

"I know that's what I said! She's amazing isn't she?"

"I never knew she could sing like that."

"It's amazing isn't it? I don't think I've heard anyone sing like that."

"Keep your toner down Chloe."

"It's that obvious?"

"Don't worry, there's no way Beca will be able to tell."

"You think?"

"Please, she's way too caught up in Beca world to see what's right in front of her. It'll be our little secret."

"Thanks Aubrey. So what do you think? Of the whole thing I mean. You have to admit, the mashup sounded great."

"It was good."

"So will you give it some thought?"

"I don't know. It doesn't seem very competition friendly."

"Come on, at least give her a chance. See how she does at the riff off tomorrow."

* * *

"Welcome to the riff off! Who's ready to get vocal?"

Everyone in attendance made noise.

"The winners get the greatest prize of all! The microphone used by Hoobastank when the rocked out at the Schneeb Performing Arts Center! Let's see our first category!"

The wheel spun for a few seconds before landing on a category.

"Ladies of the '80s!"

Aubrey ran towards the center as quickly as she could, losing to Bumper by less than a second as he and the Trebles jumped into _Mickey_. As quickly as they started, the Harmonics came in and started _Like a Virgin_. Aubrey saw another chance and ran in to start _Hit Me With Your Best Shot_. When the High Notes didn't know what to do, they were cut off.

"So we just pick any song that works?"

"Yea."

"And just go with it?"

"Our next category... songs about sex!"

The two groups traded blows for a few songs before Jesse took over. Even as she made her obligatory sarcastic looks in his direction, Beca realized that she had an opportunity. She jumped in with _No Diggity_, and though the rest of the group was shocked they eventually caught on and managed to make it all the way through the song. This was the pinnacle of Beca's admittedly short music career. Any leftover jitters she had over performing were long gone.

"Tough blow ladies. The word you had to match was it. And you sang it's. You are cut off! The Trebles win!"

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Beca shouted, clearly moments away from snapping.

"Settle down Beca," Chloe held her shoulder to try to calm her, "come on, let's go."

* * *

"I told you her style wouldn't work for competition."

"Oh come on Aubrey it was the riff off. That hardly counts as competition."

"But she's the reason we lost! We can't risk her freelancing style destroying us like it did tonight!"

"But that was a bullshit Justin rule. You know that doesn't mean anything."

"If it didn't mean anything we would have won. And we don't even know how she'll do on the big stage."

"Just give her a chance Aubrey! I'm sure she'll be great at regionals."

"Fine, but if she messes up even a little bit you have to stop bringing this up."

"Fine with me, I know she'll be great."

* * *

_**One Year Earlier**_

_"You're just no fun you know that? Here, why don't we try this again."_

_The knife plunged right back into Beca's shoulder. She let out a bloodcurdling scream. It wasn't a particularly large knife, certainly not meant to kill her. It hadn't gone in nearly deep enough to do that. This was meant for precision. _

_"I'm gonna fucking kill you when I get out of this. You hear me? You're fucking dead!"_

_"So rude," he said as he made an obnoxious tsk noise, "maybe this'll teach you some manners" The knife went right back into her shoulder._

_"The itsy bitsy knifer went in the Batgirl's back,_

_down came the blood and washed the knifer out."_

_The amount of pain in Beca's body was indescribable. Every second felt like days, she didn't know how much more she could take._

_"A little fight in you, I like that. He'd be proud to see you so strong. That is, if he ever does see you again, and right now I'd say it's about 50-50. What do you have to say to that?"_

_"I'd say shove it clown," Beca spit in his face. _

_"Ohhhhhhh, that's gonna cost you."_

_The knife went right back in. _

* * *

"You know Beca, I think I'm just better than you."

Beca rolled her eyes. Jesse certainly had a way of keeping her interested during their CD stacking sessions.

"How do you figure?"

"Well, I come from a better city. We have a better superhero. I stack so much faster than you. I'm in a better a capella group. I mean... you really have nothing on me."

"Really flawless logic there Jesse. I guess you just have my number."

"Can I use it to call you and ask you out this Friday?"

"Flattered, but not particularly interested."

"Oh come on Beca. It'll be fun. You don't hate fun do you?"

"Nope, you got it, I hate fun."

"Seriously Beca what is this really about? Is a certain redheaded Bella on your mind?"

"What? No," Beca blushed.

"You're so into Chloe! Wow I didn't know you swung that way."

"No I am not. I'm not really into anyone right now. Romance isn't really my thing."

"Come on Beca, don't insult me by denying it."

"I'm not denying anything, it's a fact."

"If you say so. But just in case you're lying, by which I mean I know you're lying but I have to phrase it hypothetically since you're Beca the fun leech, I think she likes you too."

"No she doesn't, she's just that way with everyone."

"She doesn't kidnap me. She doesn't play peek a boo with me. She doesn't invite me to several movie nights a week, and yes, I am aware of what you two are doing behind my back."

"Come on Jesse there's no way she likes me. I'm me. I don't do... love. I can't."

"If you say so, just tell that to you're raging toner."

* * *

"... I don't think I've ever been in here."

"Maybe you would if you actually left your room every once in a while. Seriously you're there like 85% of the time.

"And the other 15% I'm being dragged around by you."

"You know plenty of people would love having me as their personal dragger."

"Is there some kind of swap meet where they can make me offers?"

"Ha ha ha," Chloe said sarcastically.

"So where exactly are we anyway?"

"It's called the library."

"And you say people study in here?"

"A shocking concept I know. I just figured your negative GPA could use a little help. I am a great teacher after all."

"If you say so," Beca's GPA really could use a boost, and if it meant spending an evening with Chloe she wasn't exactly complaining.

"So what's your first assignment?"

"Let's see... I have to write about something in the news for English."

"See, that's not too hard. Just go on or something, they'll have something interesting to write about."

"Ok let's see," Beca pulled out her laptop and went online. When opened she froze at the sight of the headline.

"_Joker escapes Arkham, sources say police covered it up for weeks._"

"Beca? Hello? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Beca could hardly move. Hardly breathe. She had to get out of there.

"Sorry Chloe, I uh, have to go, emergency. We'll talk later."


	5. Chapter 5

Big chapter, very hard to write because I wanted to get it just right. There are more flashbacks here, the first one is the only one with any real violence so avoid if you don't want to see it (but it's not horribly graphic or anything), all flashbacks are in italics. Anyway, keep up the great work with reviews and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

_Beca's screams were becoming more desperate. By her estimation it had been over a day, probably coming up on 36 hours. The gases, the shocks, the knife. She knew she was running out of time._

_"I could do this for weeks you know," the Joker smiled, "I've got a whole canvas and I've only painted the corner. Unfortunately for you I know how to quit when I'm ahead. You see this is just such a rare opportunity and I wouldn't want anyone to come and spoil it. So now I think it's time for the grand finale, so if you'll excuse me I'm going to need a few minutes to prepare for the grand finale."_

_Beca surveyed the room. It was now or never._

_"No belt, no gadgets," Beca thought to herself, "Come on, there has to be something, anything in here that could get me out. Wait a second, is that a-"_

_Beca turned as much as she could, just barely seeing the little glimpse of light in the corner._

_"Yes! A window!"_

_She started hopping in her chair towards the light, hoping with all of her soul that they weren't very high up. She had to jump and hope she landed on something soft._

_"Just get out. The fall will break me out of the chair. Just keep running. No matter what happens, just keep running."_

_She took a deep breath and jumped._

* * *

"Damn it Beca, regionals are tomorrow and you can't get this choreography right! Do you want to lose? Because if you keep spacing out like that we will!"

Beca could hardly pay attention to Aubrey's rant. She had bigger things on her mind. Specifically, the homicidal maniac that just broke out of prison.

"Excuse me for messing up a few steps. We only have to finish in second."

"That's the kind of attitude that will make us finish in last!"

"Ugh I can't take this right now."

"Fine! Practice dismissed, none of us want to deal with your attitude."

Beca stormed out, followed quickly by Chloe.

"Beca! Hey Beca wait up!"

"What do you want?"

"I just... you seem off. For the past few days I mean. I wanted to see if you're ok."

"Never better," Beca grumbled.

"Seriously Beca. Your voice has been trembling, you haven't left your room for anything other than essentials. You seem... scared of something."

"I'm not afraid," Beca said in her most defiant tone, "I'm angry."

* * *

Regionals were a blur for Beca. She remembered sock puppets. She remembered messing up her steps. She remembered the Trebles winning. It was the last thing on her mind, and even when Aubrey went on another one of her rants about how she was undermining the group and would probably cause the acapocalypse all she did was nod along. Chloe held Aubrey back afterwards.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on Beca?"

"We barely made it through today! I told you she can't help us win competitions!"

"Yea but you didn't have to be so mean to her in front of everybody. I don't think she's doing too well right now."

"Don't tell me how to lead this group! How you feel about her should not dictate how we conduct our group business."

"Aubrey! I'm serious! I think something might be seriously wrong."

"Well then you'd better go fix it before the semi finals now shouldn't you."

* * *

_Beca lucked out. She fell directly into a dumpster, the garbage bags broke her fall. The impact was great enough to break the chair, but not so bad that it would kill or even seriously injure her. She must have been no more than a story or two up. She had to move quickly, surely they would have heard the window breaking. _

_"Just keep running," she told herself, "just keep running until they can't catch you."_

_That's what she did. She ran. She made it about six or seven blocks out of the alley in which she fell into before passing out on the side of the street. _

* * *

"Beca?"

Beca groaned as she turned over in her bed to see her father standing over her.

"What do you want?"

"It's 12:45. You have Bellas rehearsal in 15 minutes don't you?"

"And?"

"Well... don't you think you should get up and go?"

"Is there a reason you're here besides enforcing my schedule?"

"I just wanted to check up on you. You seem... more sullen than usual. Is everything ok?"

"I'm fine dad, now please leave so I can get ready for rehearsal."

"Ok," he sighed, "but you know I'm here for you. If something's wrong I mean, you can come talk to me."

"I'll keep that in mind," Beca droned.

* * *

Beca practically had to drag herself out of bed to get to rehearsal. She wasn't in the mood for Aubrey's crap. She certainly wasn't in the mood for all of the commotion in the auditorium. All of the other Bellas were crowded around a figure in the center of the room.

"Oh my god Mr. Wayne I can't believe you're Beca's godfather!"

"Can I have your autograph Mr. Wayne?"

"Will you marry me Mr. Wayne?"

"Ladies, ladies, please, call me Bruce."

They all melted at his charm.

"So can anyone tell me where Beca is? I have an urgent family matter I need to discuss with her."

"She's right here," Beca said as the entire group turned around to notice she was there, "can I help you?"

"Yes, we need to talk. Ladies I hope you don't mind if I borrow her for a minute."

Swarms of no's surrounded the auditorium with at least one more "will you marry me."

"Great, come on let's go."

* * *

_"Where... where am I?"_

_"It's ok Rebecca, you're home."_

_Beca looked up and noticed her surroundings. She was in the Batcave with only Alfred standing above her._

_"What... what happened. How did you find me."_

_"You have commissioner Gordon to thank for that. I sent him your distress signal as soon as it went out, he had half of the force in the area looking for you."_

_"And Bruce?"_

_"Still in Bosnia with Master Richard."_

_"So... he didn't come back? After the signal went out?"_

_"I'm afraid not."_

* * *

Bruce surveyed the area before looking at Beca.

"What do you want Bruce."

"He's here."

"What?"

"He's here. In Atlanta. And we don't know why."

"Please tell me we're not talking about the same he."

"You know we are."

"And you didn't tell me he got out. It happened weeks ago, and you didn't tell me."

"We hoped you wouldn't have to. We aren't sure why he's here."

"Ok."

"We're gonna stay until we find him. Me and Dick."

Beca didn't respond.

"It's ok to be afraid you know."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"We care about you Beca. We're here for you."

"Like you were back then?"

* * *

_Beca waited in the Batcave for Bruce to arrive. Alfred told her he would return soon, and she intended to be there when he got back. Suddenly the Batwing flew through the waterfall entrance and landed. Bruce and Dick got out and noticed Beca._

_"Hey Beca!" Dick shouted._

_"Not now."_

_The two costumed heroes walked down the pathway to the center of Batcave to meet Beca, also in costume._

_"Do you have anything to say?"_

_"No."_

_"Seriously? No 'I'm sorry', no 'it won't happen again', nothing?"_

_"I was in Europe. Ra's Al Ghul was in the middle of destroying their economy."_

_"Are you freaking kidding me?"_

_"I never kid."_

_"36 hours. That's how long he had me. A distress signal went out right away, you could have been back in a few hours. But you left me there. I understand the mission, I really do. I know what we fight for. But he was going to kill me, and you did nothing. You'd think after everything that happened to Jason and Barbara you wouldn't let another person you care about get hurt."_

_That was a low blow, she knew by the look on his face._

_"But you don't care about anyone do you? It's all about the damn mission. I should be dead right now, and you don't care. Well you know what? I'm done."_

_"What are you saying?"_

_"I'm saying I'm not gonna be your soldier anymore. That's apparently all I am to you. I quit."_

_Beca tore off her mask and threw it on the ground. She started to walk away when a hand grabbed her shoulder._

_"Beca..."_

_She turned around and punched him square in the face. Then she left, resolving never to wear the costume again._

* * *

Beca was on edge. It was obvious in the way she carried herself on a day to day basis. She hadn't admitted it to anyone, but she was attending class even less than usual, sleepwalking through Bella rehearsals and even ignoring Chloe. She couldn't help but be annoyed when she heard a knock on her door.

"Beca? Open up I know you're in there."

Beca begrudgingly got up and opened the door.

"What do you want?"

"I just want to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Because something's wrong and you won't tell me what it is."

"Nothing's wrong, why does everyone think something's wrong?"

"Because we can see it Beca. Maybe it's not enough for everyone, but anyone who cares about you can tell that you're just not right. Let me help you."

"I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help. I'm fine Chloe."

"No you're not! Beca you don't have to do this! It's just you and me here. You don't have to act like this. I'm your friend, I just want to help you. Why won't you just talk to me?"

"Because I'm scared alright! I'm terrified! I'm terrified that he's gonna come, and he's gonna hurt me again. Are you happy now?" The tears started flowing. Chloe had never seen Beca like this. Nobody had. She kept her walls up at all times, but in her vulnerable state she just couldn't take it anymore. She could have defended herself against anyone else, but not Chloe. Not now. Chloe pulled her in for the tightest hug she'd ever felt.

"Of course not. I just want you to be happy. I don't know who this is or what they did, and if you don't want to talk about it that's ok, but I swear, I will never let anyone hurt you."

Beca still sobbed, but she started to gain a little bit of control.

"You shouldn't be alone tonight, I'm staying over."

Chloe turned around for a moment to lock the door to keep Kimmy Jin out when she heard Beca speak.

"Chloe?"

"Yea."

"You're an amazing friend. The best I've ever had."

Beca pulled Chloe in for a hug. Chloe was shocked at how openly intimate Beca was being. When they first met she cringed at even the slightest touch. Now she was initiating hugs?

"Thank you. And the feeling's mutual."

Chloe smiled. Still in each other's arms, Beca and Chloe looked deep into each other's eyes. Chloe could sense the insecurities, the fear, but also the desire. It was clear what Beca wanted, but Chloe knew she wouldn't initiate it. She had to take the lead. She slowly moved her head in closer, waiting for Beca to follow. Their eyes closed as the gap between them shrank. Neither had ever felt such electricity as when their lips finally met.


	6. Chapter 6

Here's chapter 6. This story is becoming the Arrested Development of fanfiction, getting a lot of reviews that are very positive but for some reason the views just haven't been there. Odd, but I guess it happens. You guys have been great in supporting what I think is the best thing I've ever written (at least from a creativity standpoint). Anyway, I've kind of gotten into a groove with this one and I know where I want to take it. Hope you guys keep enjoying it and keep up the great reviews!

* * *

Though her eyes were closed, Beca was wide awake. She wanted to cherish her current position as long as she possibly could. She and Chloe had kissed the previous night, and eventually Beca fell asleep in her arms. She savored the feeling of warmth and security Chloe's body offered, and never wanted to forget what this felt like knowing that it could never happen again. It would be unfair, in fact irresponsible, to make Chloe a part of her current situation. She owed her more than that.

"I think it's cute how you're pretending to sleep."

If it were possible to roll closed eyes Beca would have done it. She needed one last moment to really take this in. She smiled softly before putting on her trademark scowl and turning around.

"You must really love the way I hold you."

"What gave it away?"

"When Beca Mitchell dislikes something she makes a snide comment and then moves on. When Beca Mitchell actually likes something she denies it before my spell over her forces her to admit it. Like she just did."

"You're talking about me like I'm the subject of some show on animal planet."

"You're not too far off," Chloe joked before breaking into her best narrator voice, "the North American Beca roams the savannah with much trepidation, careful to avoid potential threats. When she suspects she's found a mate she'll spend weeks, even months, sniffing around her to ensure complete safety. Once she feels secure, she'll embrace what has been staring her in the face since the day they met and finally allow herself to be happy."

Beca didn't respond, instead averting her gaze. Chloe's smile quickly fell, replaced by a look of mild concern.

"Is something wrong? Did you not like my wild Beca special?

"Listen... we should umm... talk about what happened last night."

"Ok? I didn't realize there would be anything to talk about. I kind of assumed that was like... our moment."

"Yea... well here's the thing... we can never have... "a moment."

"What?"

"What we have now, our friendship I mean, is as far as we can ever go."

Chloe started to get choked up, still not quite grasping Beca's words.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying... I'm saying we can never be together."

"Why? What did I do wrong? Did last night mean anything to you?"

"Of course it did. It meant everything to me."

"Then what is it then? Can Bruce Wayne's god daughter not be seen kissing girls in public? Is that it? Does she need to get herself a nice fancy husband from the yacht club to satisfy her social obligations?" Beca winced at every word. She'd never heard Chloe speak this way, it was a horrible combination of anger, fear and heartbreak.

"No, no. It's not that. To be honest... you were kind of my first."

"Your first what? The first time you kissed a girl?"

"No, the first time I kissed anyone."

"What?"

"Chloe... I don't generally get very close with people. It's because... I'm dangerous. Being with me can't end well, you'd only end up getting hurt. I thought coming to Barden might be a chance to get a fresh start, but it hasn't. I'm still me. And I couldn't live with myself if that hurt you."

"Beca look at me," Chloe took her hands and looked solemnly into her eyes, "do you have feelings for me?"

The conflict in Beca's eyes was clear. She couldn't tell the truth, but Chloe would know if she lied. Even if she didn't, Chloe deserved to know the truth.

"Yes," there was a hint of defeat in her voice.

"Now ask me the same question."

"But I already know the answer."

"But it's different when you actually hear it. When you hear it, things become real," Beca knew should wouldn't be able to get out of this.

"Chloe do you have feelings for me?"

"Yes. Yes I do. I knew it from the start. When I saw you at the activities fair. When we sang together in the shower, last night when we kissed. I've never felt this way about anyone and I need you to know how badly I want this. I don't care about whatever danger you think you present, I don't care if you think I'll get hurt. I want to be with you, and I'm willing to take the risk."

"I know," Beca said, as tears formed in both of their eyes, "and that's why I can't let you."

* * *

Beca was in no mood to be disturbed. Especially not by the person at her door.

"What do you want?"

"Can you just let me in?"

"I swear to god if this isn't news I absolutely need to hear I'll rip out your vocal chords and feed them to wolves."

Dick raised an eyebrow as he walked through the door.

"Don't ask."

"Wasn't planning on it."

"So what do you want."

"Is it so wrong that I want to spend some time with my family? I just want to talk."

"Well I don't."

"Come on Beca, you know I know how hard this must be."

"So you have my room bugged?"

"I can read lips."

"So you were hiding out in a tree spying on me. Much better."

"You don't have to do that with me you know. The sarcasm."

"Well what do you want me to say Dick? I don't particularly want to hear you try to empathize. I don't to hear that you know what I'm going through because you don't."

"You think I don't know about the hazards of this job? In case you'd forgotten Barbara's in a wheel chair because of him."

"You think I'd forget about that? That's the whole reason I had to put on the mask in the first place. All I was to Bruce was a succession plan, a contingency in case anything happened to one of his underlings. When something did, I was ready to jump in."

"You know that's not true. He doesn't know how to show it, but he cares. And I do too. You think I don't know what it's like to see someone I care about get hurt because of what we do?"

"Are you so dense that you don't see the very large difference between these two situations? You got your happy ending Dick. You and Barbara got to be together. You got to be happy, and even if things didn't work out at least you had a fair chance to live your life with someone you loved. And when she got hurt it wasn't because you couldn't be what she needed, she got hurt because a serial killer put a bullet in her spine. But me? I had to watch someone I love cry because I knew I couldn't protect her. I had to listen to her beg me for a chance at happiness and deny her because there's a very realistic chance I'll be dead in a month and if I dared to bring her into my world she might be too. You had your chance, I'll never get one. So tell me Dick, how could you possibly know how that feels?"

Dick was speechless.

"Exactly."

Dick took a moment to compose his words.

"Look Beca, I know you're hurt. I know I can't change that, but I promise you we're going to get him. And when we do we're gonna make sure he never gets out again."

"You're damn right he won't," Beca said as a defiant look formed on her face, "because when you go after him, I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"You heard me. You're going to let me know when you find him, and when you go after him I'm gonna come with you and make sure he doesn't get away myself."

"Beca are you sure? I mean-"

"Yes I'm sure. I'm tired of living my life like this. I'm tired of living in fear. No more. I'm gonna end this. I'm gonna show him that I'm not afraid anymore."

"Ok, if you're really sure about this, I'll let you know when we find him."

* * *

"_Hey where were you last night? Thought we were gonna go to dinner._"

"_Come to my room, I need a friend :(_"

"_Something wrong?_"

"_Yea, just come over,_" Chloe didn't want to have this conversation over text.

"_Ok, be there in 10 xoxo._"

* * *

"So what's up?"

Aubrey entered the room without a knock. Chloe was sitting on her bed, still crying.

"Oh wow, what's wrong Chloe?"

Aubrey sat next to her, giving her a shoulder to cry on.

"Beca and I kissed last night."

"What? What happened?"

"I went to her room to talk to her last night and she broke down and started crying."

"About what?"

"She wouldn't say. But I hugged her and told her I was there for her and that I'd stay with her for the night to make sure she was ok. Then she thanked me and... it just happened. Then we fell asleep holding each other and when we woke up she said we couldn't be anything more than we are now."

"Why would she say that. She's so clearly in love with you."

"That's the worst thing! She admitted that she had feelings for me! But then she said she was dangerous and that I'd only get hurt if we were together."

"Well I can't say I disagree."

"What?"

"Just think about her. There's no way she can handle a relationship. Maybe she was just trying to protect you from herself."

"I think it's more than that."

"What do you mean?"

"I think there's something she isn't telling me. She mentioned someone hurting her last night. When I saw her in the shower she definitely had a few scars, including one I felt on her shoulder last night. I think something might be seriously wrong."

"So are you gonna confront her about it?"

Chloe had to stop and think about it for a moment. She obviously wanted to, but what would that mean? This was clearly something Beca wanted to keep to herself. If it was as big as she suspected it might not even be something she wanted to hear. No, she couldn't think that way. Whatever it was, Chloe would be there for her. Whenever she was ready.

"No, not now at least. I think she needs her space, so I'll give it to her."

"That's really mature Chloe. I'm proud of you."

The two girls shared a hug, Aubrey not mentioning the thoughts going through her own head. She couldn't help but appreciate Beca's maturity. She was very protective of her best friend. She obviously wasn't happy about Beca rejecting Chloe, but the fact that she was strong enough to do it despite her own feelings had to mean something. She cared about Chloe beyond her raging toner. Maybe she should rethink her feelings toward the insubordinate young DJ.


	7. Chapter 7

Nothing significant to say other than keep up the awesome reviews as always. Enjoy!

* * *

Rehearsals had been... weird. Not awkward like Beca had expected, but definitely not normal. Chloe was nice enough, but she made a concerted effort to keep some distance between them. Gone were the days of being physically walked through dance moves and cuddling while watching movies. Aubrey on the other hand, had almost completely given up yelling at Beca. In fact she was being downright... well not nice... but at the very least cordial. It had certainly made the weeks leading up to the semi finals more bearable, especially as the other side of her life loomed heavily in the shadows. What Beca didn't expect was the two to crash together in such an obvious and public manner. She arrived early to a rehearsal one day to find only Bruce and Aubrey in the auditorium.

"Oh my god that's so funny Bruce," Aubrey laughed as she playfully ran her hands through her hair.

"What can I say, I'm a man of many talents."

"Ok seriously Bruce?"

"Oh, Beca, you're here early."

"Why are you here at all?"

"I actually needed to talk to you. Let's go outside."

Aubrey could hardly hide her disappointment as Bruce led Beca outside.

"So what can you tell me about that blonde?"

"Are you kidding me she's 22!"

"I've had younger."

"Ugh I hate how disgusting you are sometimes. What do you want?"

"Dick told me what you said to him."

"And?"

"It's been almost a month. I didn't want to confront you right away because I knew you'd be hotheaded, but now that some time has passed I just don't think it's a good idea."

"Aca-scuse me?"

Bruce gave her a quizzical look.

"Sorry I'm not quite sure why I just said that. Anyway, excuse me?"

"I don't think you should come."

"Care to be more specific?"

"It's dangerous."

"That's a pretty lame excuse Bruce. Everything we do is dangerous. I kind of assumed that's why we did it. You have a bit of a death wish you know."

"I'm serious. You're too emotionally invested in this. Emotions get you killed."

"Which is why you bang my 22 year old friends rather than dare feel something?"

"This isn't about me."

"But it's always about you isn't it? We exist because of you. _He_ exists because of you. So don't tell me I can't go after him. Don't tell me it's dangerous because you've put me in harm's way more times than I can count, you've left me to die, you've left me with him. I'm not gonna do nothing like you did. I'm gonna fight, and I'm gonna make sure he never hurts anyone again because I don't trust you to do it without me. Is that clear?"

Beca could tell she wasn't being fair. If it were possible to stir emotion in the Batman she had. He averted his gaze for a moment, clearly trying to find the right words. When he couldn't he turned around and began to walk away.

"I don't want you to die Beca. Try and remember that."

* * *

Beca desperately tried not to obsess. She felt it was the one thing that really separated her from Bruce. As much as she wanted to chase down leads on the Joker, and admittedly kick some asses, she thought the best thing she could do was try to live her life normally. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he was in her head. She threw herself into her music as much as possible. It gave her an emotional outlet, both to satisfy the fear of her eventual showdown with a super villain and assuage her heartbreak over what happened with Chloe.

In truth Beca was more concerned about the latter. She told herself otherwise, but red hair trumped green in her book. She didn't want to be distracted by Chloe, she knew what happened between them was over. _But did it have to be?_ No, she couldn't think that way. She couldn't risk letting someone get hurt because of her. That's what it really came down to. Sure she was scared of what might happen when she finally saw the Joker again, but death was something she'd faced several times. She'd been beaten, shot at, stabbed and tortured, but overall those things were familiar. Almost second nature. But her feelings for Chloe? Those were confusing. They didn't make sense. To someone was logical and analytical as Beca, that was scarier than anything. Maybe those characteristics were what made the Joker so terrifying in the first place.

As much as she tried not to let it distract her, it was becoming harder and harder to hide. Whether it was a sloppy Bellas rehearsal, homework left undead (which admittedly probably would have happened anyway), or even just the realization that she hadn't eaten in two days, people were starting to notice.

"You're stacking those CDs awfully angrily aren't you?"

"Sorry, I'm a bit distracted."

"You're damn right you're distracted you haven't insulted me all day. What's up?"

"Just a lot on my mind."

"Care to explain?"

"No not particularly."

"You know I'm not gonna drop it until you do."

"Then it's gonna be long, loud evening."

"You know we're friends right?"

"Come again?"

"Beca we're friends. We talk about stuff. Sure that mainly means you make snide comments and reject my very charming advances, but it works for us. Friends are the people you talk to when it's something you don't want to talk about."

Beca sighed.

"It's... about Chloe."

"Knew it."

"We kissed."

Jesse jumped out of his seat and did a fist pump.

"Yes! I knew it! Finally! It's about time you did something about that raging toner of yours."

"But that's all that happened."

"What?"

"We kissed, we talked, and I told her I didn't want to be with her."

"If I didn't have a very strict rule against hitting women I'd slap you. Why would you have possibly said that? You're so obviously in love with her."

Beca cringed at that word. _Love_. She was struggling with just feeling anything, but love? Did it go that far? Beca's life was definitely markedly worse without Chloe's constant presence. She definitely thought about her more than it was healthy to think about anything. It was so obvious to all those surrounding her, she'd even admitted as much to Dick in her rage earlier. But that was in the heat of the moment. She hadn't admitted it to herself. All of this just felt unfair. She tried to get away from all of this, to get a fresh start on her life, and the moment it seemed like she might be able to Gotham just wouldn't leave her alone. She felt cheated by her past, and she could only imagine how hard this must be on Chloe not even knowing why she had been denied.

"What does that even mean?"

"What?"

"That I'm in love with her. What does it really mean? How would I know?"

"A normal person wouldn't have to ask. They would just know. But how would Beca Mitchell know if she was in love? I suspect she'd probably do what she's doing now. She'd fight it, she'd deny it, she'd try to convince herself that it was something, _anything_ else. Then as a last resort she'd probably try to get someone to give her a reason that it wasn't true. It wouldn't have to be much, just a small crack. Something she could use to poke a hole. But I'm not gonna do that. If that's what you want you'll have to go to someone else because from where I'm standing it's pretty clear that you love her."

Beca didn't respond. All she could think was "shit, I think he's right."

"You love her. You do. I can see it in your eyes."

Beca still didn't respond.

"So what ridiculous Beca excuse did you use to break her heart?"

"I'm dangerous."

"That's bullshit and you know it."

"It really isn't. If you're right, and I really do love her, how could I possibly risk hurting her because of who I am? How would that be fair? Who would do that to someone they loved?"

"I think you're overestimating just how dangerous you really are."

"I think you're woefully uninformed about who I really am."

"So let me ask you something."

"Shoot."

"If this danger... if whatever it is that's keeping this from happening... just went away. What then? If there was no clear obstacle, what would you do then?"

Beca had to stop and think. What if she actually won? What if she put the Joker away for good. Would things really be different? Could they be?

"I think... I think as long as I'm me, I'd be putting her in danger. I can't do that."

"It's such a shame. You're not a bad person you know. Maybe a bit on the mean side sometimes, but never actually vindictive. You really don't give yourself enough credit in that regard. Whatever ridiculous Beca thing this is, whether it's a phobia of commitments or whatever, shouldn't be enough to keep you from living your life. Even if you don't believe it, you deserve to be happy."

* * *

Jesse's words rolled around in Beca's head for the rest of the day. Did she deserve to be happy? What did that even mean? She'd certainly put in her time karmically. People were alive because of her. A lot of them. And what did she get in return? As far as she could tell, not much. Sure it was her choice to wear the mask, and maybe it helped her cope with losing her father, but what was the cost? She couldn't count how many bones she'd broken, how many deep cuts were treated by the well meaning but admittedly under qualified Alfred?

She'd put her life on the line hundreds of times for no other reason than that it was all she knew. She grew up as part of the Batman family. She was only 11 when Bruce started training her, and once she discovered what he was really doing at night she spent as much free time as possible in the Batcave. She was very close with Dick and Barbara, but she worshipped Bruce. Maybe this was just the first time she'd ever questioned why.

Bruce was a hero. He was driven to do things normal men couldn't even fathom. But was he happy? Probably not. She couldn't imagine living with the stress he carried every day. The weight of an entire city was on his shoulders, and why? Because he'd witnessed a mad man kill his parents. Bruce certainly didn't deserve the life he was dealt. But that never stopped him from living it. At least he knew who he was. Beca didn't. She was constantly torn between the soldier she was raised to be and the normal person she wanted to be. The two often intersected, and by now the line was so blurry that she could hardly notice which side she stood on at a given time.

Maybe she did deserve to be happy, but that didn't mean the world would let her. Once you were a bat, you were a bat for life. _But he's the only one who knows who you are_. If it wasn't this it would be something else. _Once he's gone there's nothing stopping you_. As long as Gotham was a part of her life, Batgirl would be too. She wished the past was just a memory, but really it was what made her who she was. It would never abandon her. _But does that mean you can't move on_?

Beca held the mask in her hands. She looked into it both longingly and despairingly. She wanted to say "_one more time,_" but knew she wouldn't entirely believe it. As much as she deserved to be happy, she wondered if the mask would ever let her be.


	8. Chapter 8

Nothing important to say, just enjoy!

* * *

Beca and Jesse's CD stacking had gotten considerably less chatty since their heart to heart several weeks earlier. Jesse thought it was because he might have been wrong. In reality, it was because Beca knew he was right but couldn't face it. Beca's whole life had gotten noticeably quieter. She actively tried to avoid Chloe at rehearsal, which Chloe quickly obliged to when she noticed what was going on. Her social life consisted of awkward CD stacking and nights spent at her computer mixing sad songs.

"Hey Becky," Luke said as he left the booth.

"What's up?"

"I'm gonna be away for the next week. I know you have your semi finals for the Bellas soon, but if you want I'd like you to take over some of my shifts."

"Sure, that would be great."

Beca welcomed the distraction. She really did need to hone her DJ skills a bit more, and music was the only thing that could get her mind off of Chloe at this point.

"Congrats," Jesse said.

"Thanks, I'm surprised he didn't offer you a shift."

"It's cool, you're better than me. I'm sure you'll do great."

* * *

"Oh Mr. Wayne, that was amazing."

"I think we're past Mr. Wayne Audrey."

"Aubrey."

"Yea that's what I said."

"Are you sure?"

"Would I ever forget the name of such a beautiful girl?"

This was a routine practice in the aftermath of Bruce Wayne's sexual conquests. Slowly undermine their confidence in the relationship, give them a reason to believe he's just a pig looking for a one night stand when they look back on it, but never outright tell them as much in the moment. That would lead to a confrontation he never wanted to have. His goal was generally the same and fairly simple: get laid, get out. He needed the release every now and then, and he didn't particularly like breaking hearts, so he always gave them a reason to believe he was an asshole when in reality, he just wasn't looking for the same things they were. Every now and then, he'd get lucky with someone who recognized that.

"Look... Mr. Wayne... Bruce... I get what this is. You don't have to do that."

"What are you talking about."

"You're Bruce Wayne. I know this was a one time thing. You don't have to lie or charm me or anything."

"Smart girl."

"I just have one question though."

"Shoot."

"You and Beca."

"What about us."

"Well... you know her better than anyone. Sometimes she can be hard to read."

"Not really, you just have to know what you're looking for."

"So if I wanted to know if she... liked... someone."

"This is about the redhead isn't it?"

"What? No."

"You're a horrible liar."

"Ok it is. She's my best friend, I just... want to know why they can't make it work."

"You know to be honest, I was always hard on her. I didn't like the idea of her dating, I guess I was just kind of overprotective. But based on what I've heard, this redhead is special."

"She really is."

"Beca just needs to be... pushed. Out of her shell. She's not naturally trusting and she doesn't like getting close to people because she thinks she'll screw it up. Right now might not be the best time, she's... going through some things. But someday I hope she finally gives it a shot. I don't want her to turn out like me," Bruce said, knowing Aubrey wouldn't grasp the double meaning of his words.

"Wow, you really care about her don't you?"

"I do, even if I've never been great at showing it. But enough serious talk, if this is going to be a one night thing we might as well milk it for all it's worth.

* * *

In a normal emotional state Beca might have wondered if she was being too obvious with her song choices. She usually didn't make mixes with songs like Vanessa Carlton's "_A Thousand Miles_", but those were the songs that were in her heart at the time and she didn't really know better. Besides, she couldn't have imagined that Aubrey and Chloe would actually be listening.

"It's amazing how dense that girl is."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked.

"Oh god please tell me you don't see it."

"See what?"

"Listen to the songs she's playing. This is Beca, I can't imagine she usually sits around listening to to sad songs. She must be really sad and confused if these are the songs she's putting on the radio."

"I think you're putting a bit too much thought into this Aubrey."

"I don't think you're putting enough thought into this Chloe. I mean how long has it been? Almost two months? There's giving her space and there's letting her get away, and that's what you're doing here. Are you so blind that you can't see that she loves you? I mean for god's sake it's just exhausting to watch."

"You... you think she loves me?"

"For the love of god Chloe yes! I'd bet she hasn't stopped thinking about you since she rejected you."

"That's the thing though. She rejected me. She doesn't want to be with me."

"Did she say that?"

"What?"

"Did she say that she didn't want to be with you? Did she say she didn't like you? Because if I remember correctly she did admit that she liked you."

"But what does it matter? She said we couldn't be together."

"Because she's scared. She doesn't know how to be in a relationship. Look... I'll admit that we're not best friends. I tolerate her, I even have a modicum of respect for her, but I don't like her. And even I can see what she's doing. She's scared of what she feels because she's never felt anything like it. She's not gonna budge, so you have to say something. You have to take charge and make her see that it's all gonna work out if she just gives it a chance."

"But... what if she says no?"

"Don't let her! Show her that you love her, that you accept her and all of her flaws and if that means risking getting hurt you're ok with it. Do not take no for an answer."

"Aubrey," Chloe said as she hugged her best friend, "thank you."

"You're welcome. I do have one request though."

"Shoot."

"Please wait until after the semi finals. They're in two days, why take that risk."

"Ok, I'll talk to her afterwards."

* * *

"Hi Beca."

"Do you ever talk to me when I'm not in bed?"

"Well you are in bed a lot."

"What do you want dad?"

"I just wanted to talk. I heard you on the radio last night."

"Really? I wasn't aware you listened to college radio."

"I do when my daughter's on it. You were really good."

"Thanks. I'm gonna need the practice for when I go to LA next year."

"You mean _if_ you go to LA next year."

"No I mean _when_."

Beca was tired of everything. Tired of Chloe being dangled in front of her knowing she'd never be able to have her. Tired of a murderous clown chasing her. Tired of being who she was. She tried to leave Gotham once and it just followed to college. The only solution she could think of was running even farther.

"We haven't had that discussion Beca."

"We don't need to. I'm going, with or without your support."

"Does this have something to do with those songs you were playing on the radio?"

"What?"

"Come on Beca even I could tell something was wrong. You've never liked sad songs, but that was all you played."

"How would you know what kind of music I like?"

"Look, I know I wasn't around. I can't change that, but I'm here now and I want to help you. I'm your father. Let me be a part of your life. Please, just tell me what's wrong."

"It's... it's a lot of things."

"Is it a boy?"

"... Not exactly."

"A girl?"

"Yea. You don't have a problem with that do you?"

"No, no. Just a bit... taken aback that's all. Nobody ever told me you were... uhh... lesbian."

"That's because nobody knew. Hell I didn't even know."

"So were you just experimenting a bit? I mean it is college after all."

"Ew dad gross."

"Sorry, sorry. I mean, what led to this? Who is it?"

"It's... one of the other Bellas. Chloe Beale."

"Chloe Beale? I taught her a few years ago. Marvelous girl, great student, nice to everyone, no wonder you fell for her."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

"So what happened? Did she not like you back?"

"No, she did. And that's the problem."

"You're gonna have to explain because where I come from that isn't a problem."

"I'm me. I can't... be in relationships. She'd only end up getting hurt."

Dr. Mitchell sat down and put an arm over Beca's shoulder.

"Look... Beca. I know your mother and I didn't exactly set a great example for how to be in a relationship. I know it's mostly my fault, and I know being around Bruce as much as you were must not have done much in that regard either, but don't let a few people turn you off of the idea entirely. Love really is a great thing if you let it be. So whatever it is that's holding you back, just forget about it and go for it. You know what they say, it's better to have loved and lost then never loved at all."

"If you knew why I was never loving at all you might disagree."

"Then tell me Beca."

Beca really did want to tell her father the truth. Not necessarily because of some bond growing between, but because she was tired of hiding it. It was becoming such a burden on her life.

"It's... a long story. I can't really talk about it now."

"Ok... maybe some day then?"

"Maybe."

"Alright Beca, I have a class to get to. All I'm saying is think about it. Take a shot, and even if it doesn't work out you'll be happy that you tried."

* * *

Beca hated the flight attendant's outfit that for some reason was chosen as the Bella uniform. Sure it looked good, but it was incredibly uncomfortable. Wasn't comfort kind of a big deal while performing on stage? Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door.

"Dick?"

"We found him."

"What?"

"We found him. He's at a chemical plant downtown. Right now, we're going. Are you coming?"

"Dick I have my semi finals like... now."

"I don't have time for this Beca, we're going now. Are you coming or not?"

"Ok. I'm coming. Just give me a minute to get ready."


	9. Chapter 9

Big chapter here. Very, very, very big. As in, I'm guessing is this what you've all been waiting for. I apologize if the action sequences suck, I'm not exactly good at writing them. I won't hold you up any longer, just enjoy!

* * *

"We have to go! Where's Beca?"

"I don't know. Have any of you heard from her?"

All of the Bellas shook their heads. Aubrey was in a state of complete panic. She couldn't rearrange an entire performance to accommodate one missing person.

"Chloe call her!"

"I've called her three times, she hasn't picked up! Wait 10 minutes, I'll run over to her room."

Luckily for Chloe, the bus the Bellas would drive to the semi finals was parked very close to Beca's building. It only took her a few minutes to get there, but to her surprise nobody was home. There was no note, her cellphone was on her desk, there really wasn't any way to find her. Still, she couldn't help notice a big irregularity in the room. Beca's headphones were on the floor. Beca's headphones were _never_ on the floor. She treated them with the utmost of care. Wherever Beca was going, she sure was going in a hurry. She ran back to the bus to tell the disappointed group.

"She wasn't there. Her cellphone was. Maybe she's planning on meeting us there? She wouldn't just abandon us right?"

"She'd better, in the meantime we have to go."

* * *

"So where are we going?" Beca asked from the back of the Batmobile.

"A Lexcorp lab in downtown Atlanta."

"How did we find him?"

"He triggered the silent alarm."

"Isn't that a little sloppy for him?"

"Maybe he's not used to how things work down here?" Dick offered.

"It means he wants us to catch him." Bruce said.

"Oh," Beca practically whispered.

"Be on alert, both of you. He's been here for months, whatever he's planning he could have done ages ago. He has a bigger endgame in mind."

Dick shot Beca a "don't worry, I've got your back" glance, but it really didn't have any effect. Even in his Nightwing costume, Dick was still the same goofy kid she'd known most of her life. He didn't exactly scream bodyguard, especially not with what they were going up against.

"Ok, we're here. We're going to stake him out for a while and see if anyone comes in or out. Dick, you take the front, we'll go in the back.

* * *

"We're on in five minutes. Where the hell is Beca?"

"I don't know. She wouldn't just bail on us like this. She has to be here somewhere."

"Well she clearly isn't."

"Can we ask one of the security guards to look for her?"

"Chloe, SHE'S NOT COMING! ACCEPT THAT!"

"No Aubrey, I won't. Beca would not just leave us like this. She has to be here somewhere."

"Oh really Chloe, if that's true then where is she? Because I don't see her. How about the rest of you, do any of you see her?" Aubrey gestured to the other girls angrily, who all stood in place and shook their heads. "Exactly."

* * *

It started out pretty routinely. A couple of guys wearing clown masks with guns waited for them at the back door. After over an hour of waiting, Bruce finally gave the signal to move in. Even after a year without putting on the costume, Beca didn't miss a beat. After they were done with the henchmen they went inside. Batman signaled to her to go left while he went right. She nodded and went down the dark path and through a set of large steel doors. Waiting behind them were two more gunmen who Beca easily dispatched.

"_Like riding a bicycle. You never forget how to bash someone's head in,_" she thought.

Beca reached another set of doors, this one protected with an electronic lock that needed a combination.

"_Shit,_" Beca thought. She was never a great hacker. She had an encrypting key in her belt that could be used for such occasions, but on advanced locks like the ones at Lexcorp they probably wouldn't.

"_Wow, lucky,_" she thought as it actually worked. She crept down the path for what seemed like a mile. She had to go slowly to ensure nobody would notice her. Suddenly, she heard voices through one of the doors.

"Just get the chemicals out. I'll worry about the Bats."

Beca would know that voice anywhere. It was his. She should have waited for backup, but decided to bust in immediately. She couldn't risk this opportunity.

"Do my eyes deceive me? Or is it really my favorite little Batgirl? How have you been sweetheart?"

"Shut up. Just... shut up."

This brought an even bigger smile to the Joker's face. He was in her head and he knew it.

"What's the matter, still haven't forgiven me for what happened last time? Well if it's any consolation I haven't forgiven you either. You just up and left without even saying goodbye! Talk about rude. But I guess we'll both have chances to make amends now won't we?"

Beca was silent, with only an angry scowl on her face.

"You know I have to say I'm surprised. I thought I'd scared you good. I thought I'd never see you in a mask again. And to be honest, I was very disappointed by that. It would have felt dishonest to come after you as a civilian. But this? This feels real? I'll be able to enjoy your screams of agony that much more."

"JUST SHUT UP!" With that Beca lunged at him, knocking out the lone clown masked henchman. The Joker ducked out of the way at the last second.

"Whoops, too slow. Now quick, think fast!"

The Joker dropped a couple of small pellets onto the ground. Suddenly, the room was being enveloped in green gas. Joker gas. The Joker put on a gas mask as Beca reached for hers. She was just a second too slow, inhaling a small amount of the gas. Not enough to incapacitate her, but enough to leave her slight disoriented. The Joker leapt out of the room and began heading back out of the door and Beca followed, starting to really feel the effects of the gas. She could run, but not without stumbling, and though she wasn't laughing hysterically like most victims of the gas she did feel... inhibited. Like she didn't quite have control of herself at the moment. Still, she couldn't get one thought out of her mind. _The Joker doesn't have to wear a mask, he's immune to his own gas._ She followed him through the same path she'd come in through, leaving the back doors.

The Joker was obviously surprised. He was expecting a getaway truck to be waiting for him, but none was there. He turned around, knowing he only had a few seconds, a minute at most before Batman came out the same way. When Beca finally caught him she threw a punch. It only grazed his chin, and he returned with a full blow to her face, chemicals still in his other hand. When she stumbled he reached for a knife in his pocket, making several attempts at stabbing her. She dodged as well as she could, but with the gas still in her system she wasn't fast enough to avoid it for very long. Just as Batman and Nightwing appeared running through the doorway, the Joker managed to plunge the knife into Beca's side. It was deep, probably not life threatening if treated, but excruciatingly painful. Blood started gushing out quickly.

"Batgirl!" Dick shouted.

Suddenly, a truck zoomed up to the front of the alley, less than 50 feet from where they stood.

"Well, that's my ride, but this has been fun, let's do it again some time."

The Joker ran towards the truck and Batman followed as Nightwing attempted to keep Beca from bleeding anymore than was absolutely necessary. The truck started moving before the Joker got there. He tossed the box in the back, but before he could jump in himself he was tackled by Batman. Batman started beating him senselessly as he shouted.

"You piece of shit, homicidal, menace to society clown! When does this end? Hunting down civilians, hurting innocent people, well no more! I'm gonna bury you so deep into Arkham that you never see the sun again!"

Neither Dick nor Beca had ever seen Batman beat someone so mercilessly before. When he was done the Joker looked like he could hardly breath. Batman handcuffed him as cop cars started blaring in the background. He shouted to Dick.

"Take her back home, bandage her up, NOW! I'll make sure the roommate doesn't come back. Take the car, park two blocks off of campus, go by roofs, get in through the window."

* * *

"I told you we couldn't trust her! She cost us this competition!"

"Aubrey calm down!"

"No Chloe, you calm down. We finished in third today because she ran away on us!"

"NO AUBREY! WE FINISHED IN THIRD BECAUSE OF YOUR ANCIENT SET LISTS!"

"What do you even see in her Chloe! All she does is let people down. She'll never care about anyone but herself!"

"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

"Oh I don't? What happened after your magical kiss Chloe? Was she there for you then? No, she wasn't, just like she wasn't here for you tonight. Just like she'll NEVER be there for you or anyone. She's just a selfish loner who ruined our season. She's out of the Bellas and you should kick her out of your life!"

Chloe spent the entire bus ride home in silence, only occasionally letting her sobs become audible. No matter how things were between them, Beca would never just abandon her like that. She couldn't believe Aubrey's description. She needed something, anything, not to fit. To be off. To explain it. Then she remembered the headphones. Maybe, just maybe, Beca had a real reason for not being there. She decided to go to Beca's room and confront her as soon as she got home.

* * *

Dick carried Beca to the back seat of the Batmobile. The drive home felt like an eternity. Beca had been stabbed as much as one would expect a superhero to be, but never this deep. Dick spent the entire drive trying to make her feel more comfortable as she babbled senselessly, not quite sure what was coming out of her mouth.

"We got him Beca," he said soothingly as he drove, "we got him and he's never getting out. He'll never be able to hurt you again. I promise. He'll never be able to hurt you again."

These words were the only thing that kept Beca conscious. She wasn't in a mental state to truly comprehend what they meant, but they were soothing. They filled her with a very rare amount of joy. When the car finally stopped, Dick scooped her out of the backseat and carried her. They'd both carried people while jumping off of roof tops, so this wasn't exactly new, but it still wasn't particularly comfortable. When he got her through the window he laid her on the bed.

"Shit, no time to change her, or me, just gotta clean the wound and bandage her up first."

Dick used some water to clean the wound before starting to wrap it up in bandages. Suddenly, the door opened.

"Beca what the hell-," Chloe's froze. Her jaw dropped, her eyes were wide. It took her a moment to really comprehend what she was seeing, "oh my god."

Dick leapt out of the window in a panic. Chloe stood, stunned, until she saw the blood and half wrapped bandages. She rushed over to Beca to finish what Dick started.

"Chloe?" Beca said softly.

"Shh, just relax. I've got you."

"What... what's going on? You're not supposed to be in the cave are you?"

"Just relax, let me fix you up ok?"

Beca relaxed, falling in and out of consciousness as Chloe worked.

"You have soft hands Chloe."

"Thank you Beca," Chloe smiled. Beca was like a drunk child in this state. So cute, so defenseless, not quite sure what she was doing.

"Come on, let's get you changed," Chloe realized that she hadn't locked the door, and considering that's what allowed her to see all of this in the first place it seemed like a good idea. After locking the door, Chloe grabbed a T shirt and sweat pants out of Beca's dresser.

"How do you get this thing off?"

Beca motioned to her back, indicating a very small, well concealed zipper.

"Come on, arms up."

"But then you'll see me naked."

"Not like it'd be the first time."

Beca laughed as she obliged. Chloe put the T shirt on her before doing the same with the sweatpants (which elicited a small noise as the pants skimmed the bottom of the cut). Then she tucked her into bed.

"Well, I should probably head home."

"NO! Stay here with me tonight!"

"Beca I don't know-"

"Please! Pretty please! Don't go. I want you to be here with me and hold me while I sleep. Please, I love you."

Chloe was speechless. Did she really mean it? Or was it just the state she was in. She didn't know where Beca was coming from, any number of things could have happened to her. But she seemed so... desperate. So sincere. Like she was begging Chloe to stay because she really couldn't be without her tonight.

"Ok."

Chloe quickly took off her sweater and pants, leaving her in only a T shirt and underwear as she turned off the lights. Beca smiled brightly as she lied down next to her.

"You're so pretty Chloe. So, so, so pretty. You can never wear pants with me again ok?"

"Ok, if you insist Beca," Chloe laughed.

They settled into a comfortable position, Beca's head lying on Chloe's chest with Chloe's arms draped around her waist, careful not to touch the wound.

"It's finally over Chloe. I'm finally free."

And with that, they drifted off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Last chapter was the reveal, now we get the morning after. I know I say this a lot, but this was probably my favorite thing that I've ever written. Enjoy and review!

* * *

Was this what a hangover felt like? Beca could only speculate, but the symptoms were definitely there. Banging headache. Not much memory of the previous night. She traced her hands slowly across her body, stopping suddenly when she felt bandages. Why was she wearing bandages? And why did her pillow feel like flesh? Beca slowly opened her eyes to find her head on the chest of a still sleeping Chloe.

"_Ok, let's retrace our steps,_" she thought, "_I remember putting on the costume. We went after him. Was there gas? I think there was gas. He stabbed me. Then... it's blurry. I remember going in the car. I remember Dick. Then... oh no._"

Things slowly started coming back to her. Chloe was definitely there last night. She had to have seen something. Why else would her costume be lying on the floor in plain sight? This was bad.

"Good morning," Chloe said cheerfully as her eyes started to open.

"Morning," Beca said as she tried to sit up, stopping as she felt the pain from her wound.

"Here, let me help you."

Chloe sat Beca upright on the bed.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Beca sighed. She had to at least try.

"So listen, about last night. I know what you think you saw-"

"Beca. I saw Nightwing treating a stab wound while you were in costume. There really isn't much you can say to convince me what I saw wasn't what I think I saw."

"Worth a shot," she mumbled.

"So what happened?"

"I'm pretty sure that's classified."

"Beca withholding details really doesn't do you much good at this point. Besides, I thought Batgirl retired over a year ago. She hadn't been seen in that time anyway."

"So you keep tabs on us?"

"Forgive me, I just love superheroes."

"You know I think I remember Clark reading some fan mail from a girl name Chloe in Georgia."

"Clark?"

"Oh shit forget I said that."

"So Superman's first name is Clark."

"... Or maybe it's his last name. Besides, you're the one writing us fan mail."

"You're a horrible liar, especially considering who you work for. And who said anything about us? I wrote a letter to Superman," she said with a wink.

"Damn it."

"So tell me, what happened last night."

Beca took a deep breath. She didn't really want to have this conversation, but she didn't see a way out.

"We'd been looking for him for months. I told Batman and Nightwing-"

"Who I'm guessing are Dick and Bruce?"

"Right. I told them I wanted to come back just this one time. For him. Anyway, we found him last night."

"Who?"

"The Joker."

"Oh."

"So we went after him. I'm sorry I missed the semi finals by the way, you have to know I wouldn't have if it were anyone else. But he's... kind of a big deal to me."

"You really don't have apologize Beca, I think what you were doing was more important than some singing contest. But just out of curiosity, why is he so important to you specifically?"

"We have... a bit of a past. He's hurt me."

Chloe suddenly flashed back to the night they kissed. "_I'm terrified that he's gonna come, and he's gonna hurt me again_," Beca's words suddenly made some sense.

"What did he do?"

"Chloe I'm not sure if I want to talk about it. It's still really painful."

"If you don't want to tell me that's ok, but know that I'm for you and I just want to help you."

"Ok. About a year and a half ago, Bruce and Dick went to Europe and left me on solo patrol. It was a fairly common practice, someone had to protect the city at all times. When it's only for a few days he was fine leaving me there, but when it was extended he'd send a shapeshifter like the Martian Manhunter to pretend to be him. Gotham couldn't know that the real Batman was gone. Anyway, I was on a rooftop when I heard some commotion in the alley below. It looked like a woman was getting mugged, but when I got down it was just a set up. All I remember was getting hit in the head, really hard, really quickly, and then waking up in some kind of warehouse tied to a chair."

"That's awful."

"That's only the beginning. For the next 36 hours he tortured me. Gases, shocks, a few injections, but worst of all that knife. He was just playing with me, wanting me to feel as much pain as I could without actually dying. That's how I got the scar."

"The one on your shoulder you mean?"

"Yea," Beca was speaking of the scars the Joker had specifically carved into her. Two somewhat circular objects with a wide "U" under them. If you looked hard enough, you could make out a smile, "that's why I got the tattoo over it, I just wanted to forget."

"I'm so sorry Beca, that sounds awful."

"It was. Eventually, either he got bored of me or scared that Bruce would come, but he decided to kill me. He left the room for a moment to prepare, and I took the opportunity to try to escape. There was a window in the corner of the room, so I jumped out of it. Landed in a dumpster, and ran. I didn't make it too far, but I woke up in the Batcave."

Chloe didn't know how to respond.

"I never wore the costume again after that. I moved away, I wanted to try to live a normal life, I wanted to forget. But he broke out of Arkham. Then he came down here. He knows who I am under the mask. We assumed he was going to try to kill me."

Suddenly it all made sense to Chloe. That's why Beca rejected her. She wouldn't risk her safety against the Joker.

"Beca, I-"

"Then we found him. Last night. He was at a chemical plant downtown. He gassed me, he stabbed me, but we got him. And now he's gone and he's never coming back."

"That's why you said it was over last night. That's why you said you were free."

"Yea."

"Do you remember what else you told me last night?"

"Not much. It's still kind of a blur."

"Well there were plenty of compliments. You told me I had soft hands and that I was pretty. You also made the proclamation that I could never wear pants around you again."

"Stupid gas," Beca grunted.

"You also told me that you loved me."

"I... wha-"

"Did you mean it?"

"What?"

"Beca do you love me, or not?"

Beca was silent for a moment before Chloe continued.

"Just this once, ignore all of those little voices in your head telling you this can't happen and just answer from your heart."

Beca took another deep breath.

"Yes. Chloe, I love you."

It felt so freeing to say. Like an enormous weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"Now ask me if I feel the same way."

"Chloe-"

"Please Beca."

"Chloe, do you love me?"

"Yes. Of course I do. Beca I love you so much. I fell for you so hard and so quickly that I was willing to barge into your shower just for the chance to see you again. I love everything about you, the way you're willing to watch movies you hate just because you know it makes me happy, the way you let me cuddle with you even when it makes you uncomfortable, how you can stand up to Aubrey when no one else can, how incredibly, mind numbingly beautiful you are, but most of all I love that you love me so much that you would give up your own happiness because you thought it would protect me. It takes a really special kind of person to give up that much for someone. That's you Beca, and I love you for it."

"Chloe, you understand what being with me actually means right? Now you know who I am, how dangerous this could actually be-"

"I don't care. Beca please, let me take this risk. I'm ok with it because even though you're trying to save my life the thought of a life without you just doesn't seem like a life worth living. So please Beca, stop thinking about all that can go wrong and really imagine just how much can go right. Think of how happy we could be together."

Beca took a moment to really think over everything Chloe was saying. Then Jesse's words came back to mind along with her father's. All they kept saying was to take a chance, to try to be happy, she _deserved_ to be happy. The Joker was gone and not coming back. Nobody else knew who she was. For once she had a chance at a real life. For once she had a chance to be happy.

"Ok."

"Do you mean it?"

"Yes. Let's do this."

Chloe went in for a kiss as tears formed in her eyes. She put her hands and Beca's waist and heard a sharp cry. Suddenly remembering her injury, Chloe pulled back.

"Oh yea, you need your rest. Don't worry though, nurse Chloe is here to take care of you. Whatever you need. I'm not going anywhere."

"Do you think we could get nurse Chloe a sexy nurse's outfit."

Chloe pulled into close to Beca's ear and purred, "that can be arranged." That only got Beca more excited, which in turn caused a sharp pain.

"But for now, coffee will have to do, I'll be back in a bit."

* * *

Beca knew she had to act quickly. Chloe would be back soon and she wanted this done before she got back. Besides, she only had a small window to reach him. She picked up her phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hi Bruce."

"Feeling better?"

"A little bit. I've had some help."

"Dick told me what happened."

"Don't blame me I was nearly unconscious."

"Is she a threat?"

"No, we can trust her."

"Good."

"So are you still in Atlanta."

"Leaving this afternoon."

"Wait. Stay for another few days."

"Why?"

"There's someone I want you to meet."

* * *

"I got us breakfast," Chloe said in a sing-songy voice.

"Good, I'm starving," Beca started to get up but cringed.

"No, sit, I went back to my room and got trays so you could stay in bed."

"You're so amazing you know that?"

"Some might call me a super girl."

"Don't tell Kara you said that."

"Kara?"

"Shit I've gotta stop doing that. Oh by the way, before you sit down, I need you to grab something for me. Second drawer on the right in the desk."

Chloe opened the drawer to find only a rather large green pill.

"What's this?"

"That is going to cure your nodes."

"What?"

"Superheroes have the best medical care. It's basically an all purpose lung fixer. We used them when we had to go to places where our breathing might be affected, like deep under water. I've had to take a few, but considering your lifestyle probably doesn't send you to Atlantis, I think one should be plenty."

"Oh my god thank you so much!"

"It's so nice that I can finally give it to you. I'd spent the past few weeks trying to find a way to slip it in your drink or something but then you might have seen it and thought I was like crazy or something."

"You could have just brought me coffee or something."

"Shit, I should have thought of that."

"Oh well, you were still able to give it to me. and that's what matters," Chloe said, giving Beca a quick kiss on the cheek, "so tell me, what's it like?"

"You mean being a superhero?"

"Yea. I mean, I've never actually met one. I don't think I know anyone who has, but it's kind of everyone's fantasy. What is it really like?"

"Honestly? Not as cool as most people think. We spend way more time doing stake outs and monitor duty in the cave or Watchtower than actually beating people up."

"Wait, the Watchtower? You mean the Justice League Watchtower? You've been to the Justice League Watchtower?"

"Yea."

"You were in the Justice League?"

"... Not exactly. Sidekicks were allowed inside, but they weren't actually members."

"Still awesome. So I know you've met Superman. What's he like?"

"The big blue boy scout? Nothing special once you get to know him."

"Why do you call him that?"

"He's like the non fun version of you. So nice, so polite, it's kind of sickening after a while."

"I really hope you don't mean that towards me."

"No, no! I'm just saying it gets kind of tiring with him. But you're full of surprises and fun. Also, you're way hotter than him."

"Well thank you. What about the Green Lantern? Have you met him?"

"All four of them."

"That's so cool. You know now when you propose to me you have to give me one of those rings."

"They're a lot harder to use than you'd think."

"YOU'VE USED A GREEN LANTERN RING!"

"Well... yea."

"Oh my god tell me everything!"

"It was like my third or fourth week on the job, I was totally unprepared for what we were doing but we were dangerously undermanned at the time so I didn't really have a choice. It was just me, Bruce and Hal."

"Hal?"

"God damnit why can't I stop doing that?"

"I think it's cute. I'll know every superhero's secret identity by lunch. But go on."

"Anyway, we were fighting Sinestro and at one point the ring just sort of flew off of Hal's finger. I grabbed it and slipped it on. I imagined punching him and suddenly a giant fist came out and hit him. Then I threw the ring back to Hal and we ended up winning soon after."

"Is there anything you haven't done?"

"Let's just say there are a lot of opportunities in that line of work."

"So... what's Batman really like? I mean I've heard the rumors and argued on the message boards."

"You argue on superhero message boards? You're such a nerd!"

"Am not! I Told you, I'm a big fan."

"Ever about me?"

"That's my little secret," Chloe winked.

"You know I could probably find out everything you've ever said about me in less than five minutes right?"

"Probably, but that would be dishonest and that's not you. But seriously, what's he really like?"

"Let me put it this way, Superman is probably his best friend yet he never goes anywhere without a sliver of kryptonite, just in case."

"So he really is as paranoid as everyone says."

"He's obsessed. It's... hard to really understand if you haven't seen it in person. His drive and dedication, his willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of the mission, there isn't another person on the planet who could do it like he does. I think that's why he has such a hard time connecting to people. He made me what I am."

"What do you mean?"

"Before my dad left, I was pretty normal as a child. Some might have even said happy. My mom taught me about music, I had friends, I was just a regular kid. Then my dad left and I was devastated. I was obviously close to Bruce before that, but that was when he really took me in. He lost his parents when he was a kid, that's what put him on the path to becoming Batman. I guess he saw a bit of a kindred spirit in me, so he started teaching me karate as a way of displacing all of my anger. Eventually I found out who he really was."

"And what happened after that?"

"I idolized Bruce. I wanted to be just like him. He gave me purpose, something to fight for. I didn't realize it at the time, but I started acting more and more like him. Angrier, more reserved, just an overall lack of interest in the world beyond the mission. Maybe at the time it was what I needed, but it really stunted my development as a person. Then... that night happened."

Chloe was mesmerized by every word. Beca was never this open about her past.

"The Joker wanted to end it because he was worried about Batman. But Batman wasn't coming. I sent out a distress signal before I passed out, but nobody came. Bruce was in Europe, dealing with something really big. I think I understand that now, I get why didn't come back. But it was maddening at the time. He'd seen so many people get hurt or killed because he couldn't save them, but he still just abandoned me, someone he'd basically raised. That's when I decided I couldn't do it anymore. I had to try to live a normal life, I couldn't end up like him. That's when I really threw myself into my music. I desperately wanted to go to LA and become a DJ, but my parents wanted me to get an education and wouldn't budge. I ended up coming here, and now that I'm with you I think I made the right decision."

Chloe gave her a peck on the cheek and smiled.

"I think you did too."

"I still think about it sometimes though. It'll always hurt. To be left there like that. Completely alone, with probably the most dangerous person in the world."

"You really think he's that bad?"

"I've fought plenty of bad guys. Hired guns, super villains, even just stupid kids making mistakes. The one thing they all have in common is that what they're doing makes sense. They're doing it for money, for power, for respect. You can figure it out, they don't want to hurt you it's just a necessary hazard of the job. But him, he just does it for fun. He just enjoys hurting people and daring Batman to stop him. It's sick, and it doesn't make sense. You never know what he wants. That's what makes him so dangerous. He's volatile, he could do anything at any moment. I'm not scared of most criminals because I understand them. But I'm terrified of him because nobody could understand him. I'm scared of anything I don't understand. I think that's why it took me so long to acknowledge what I felt for you."

"Please tell me you didn't just compare me to the Joker."

"No, no, not in a bad way. I'm just... musing. Even bad guys aren't scary because I've been trained in how to deal with them. But I didn't know how to deal with my feelings for you. I was scared of what I felt. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yea, I think I get that. But eventually you figured it out, and that's what matters. Just like you eventually overcame your fears and beat him. I'm so proud of you Beca, for everything you've done."

"Thank you. Hey, are you busy tomorrow night?"

"Not if you have something in mind."

"How would you like to go to dinner with me and Bruce?"

"I'd love to! Wow I'm just surprised you'd want me to meet someone so important so soon. You must really like me," Chloe said jokingly.

"Well you are a super girl."


	11. Chapter 11

Nothing important to say. Just enjoy!

* * *

"Oh my god for the last time I never made out with Aquaman!"

"I'm just saying the pieces fit."

"I keep telling you I think he's gay."

"Which would be the perfect alibi for someone who wanted to make out with Batman's underage sidekick!"

Beca rolled her eyes and laughed. This is how she and Chloe had spent the past thirty something hours. As Chloe nursed her back to health she jokingly interrogated her about her superhero career. Chloe loved this side of Beca, the one that could be so openly honest and vulnerable about herself. She liked to believe that it was just for her.

"Now come on, let's get you dressed, we're meeting Bruce for dinner in an hour."

"We can be fashionably late."

"For the Batman? I don't want to end up in a ditch somewhere."

"If he put you in a ditch I'd put him in a hospital bed."

"You're so sweet you know that?"

"Only for you."

Chloe smiled as she gave Beca a quick kiss.

"I love that you're letting me meet someone so important so soon."

"Well if we don't now we'd probably never get the chance."

"Nonsense, he loves you!"

"He loves Gotham more."

"I bet he proves you wrong tonight."

"Don't hold your breath. Seriously though we should get ready. And by that I mean you should get me ready."

"I love taking care of you. I'm not saying I want you to get stabbed more often, but I wouldn't really complain."

"That's the most romantic thing I've ever heard," Beca said sarcastically.

"You know you love me for it," Chloe said with a laugh.

"You're right, I do love you for it."

"I love hearing you say it."

"Not as much as I love saying it."

"What would the criminals of Gotham say if they saw this?"

"You mean before or after they tell us how hot we are?"

"Ok, what would the female criminals of Gotham say? Like Poison Ivy?"

"Oh she's gay. Like 100%."

"Really?"

"Oh yea, she came on to me several times. It was... awkward."

"So you don't like redheads then?" Chloe asked jokingly.

"Ugh they sicken me," Beca responded with a chuckle, "now come on! We need to get ready."

* * *

Chloe left Beca to go back to her place and get dressed. She figured she might as well call Bruce and let them know they'd be running a little late. She grudgingly picked up her phone expecting to be yelled at for her tardiness.

"Bruce?"

"What is it," Bruce said between breaths.

"Are you working out?"

"... You could say that."

Suddenly Beca heard a female voice in the background.

"_Bruce honey, come back to bed, I never said you got a phone break. That's gonna be a spanking,_"

"What the hell? Are you seriously with a girl now? You know we're supposed to be meeting like... now."

"Just tell me what you want."

"I just wanted to say we're running a little late. We'll be there at 9:30."

"Fine."

With that Bruce hung up.

"_That's odd_," Beca thought, "_Bruce usually loves an excuse to ditch his one night stands._"

* * *

"Hi, Yates party of three," Beca told the hostess.

"Right this way Ms. Yates."

"Yates?" Chloe asked.

"Mr. Wayne likes to keep a low profile in public," the hostess responded.

"Sometimes for fun I set up his reservations with really ridiculous names like Sanchez or Chang. Just to confuse people."

"How does he like that?"

"Not very much."

"Here we are Ms. Yates," The hostess led Chloe and Beca through a door to the private dining room.

"Mr. Wayne will be with you in a moment. He's outside taking a phone call."

"Ok, thanks Julie."

Chloe looked at Beca quizzically.

"Do you know her?"

"Bruce came here his first night in the city and liked it so much that he bought it. He flew out the hostess from one his places in Gotham to make sure things were up to his... standards."

"So that's why we have this amazing private dining room?"

"Yup."

"My god he really went all out didn't he? Is that an original Monet on the wall?"

"You've got a good eye," Beca and Chloe both turned around to see Bruce entering the room, "so you must be Chloe, and might I say you're even lovelier than I'd heard."

Chloe blushed, clearly taken by Bruce's charm.

"Why thank you."

"Dude seriously? She's taken."

"Oh relax Beca I'm not that horrible."

Beca rolled her eyes.

"So Chloe, tell me about yourself. In my wildest dreams I'd never imagined meeting someone who could domesticate this one."

"Well believe me Mr. Wayne it wasn't easy."

"Nothing worthwhile ever is. And please, call me Bruce."

"I'm still not entirely certain you aren't hitting on her."

"Oh calm down Beca he's just being polite."

"She's so bitter sometimes isn't she? No wonder she didn't open up to you until you saw her mask."

Chloe was silent for a moment.

"And yes, that is my way of telling you that I know that you know... our little secret. I don't see any problems with it as long as keep it that way. I can trust you can't I?"

"Yes of course Mr. Wayne, err Bruce."

"Good. If anything isn't clear, just ask."

"Oh I'd much rather ask you about embarrassing moments from Beca's childhood."

* * *

"Oh my god she did not!"

"She did, I think it was two whole weeks. She insisted on being called Madonna, never took off the wig."

"I was six years old!"

"Oh my god Beca that's so cute."

That's how the night went. Bruce told stories of the most humiliating moments of Beca's life, he and Chloe shared a laugh and then she told her how cute it was.

"I'm surprised you didn't join the BU Harmonics, you could have gotten your Madonna fix every day."

"I grew out of Madonna. Rather quickly, Bruce just conveniently left that part out."

"The BU Harmonics? Am I missing something?"

"They're another a capella group on campus. They only sing Madonna."

"I'm surprised you got Beca to sing a capella at all. She's usually so secretive about her music. I have to hack her computer just to hear it."

Beca's eyes widened at that reveal, but Bruce spoke just as her mouth opened.

"Oh don't act like you didn't know. I trained you better than that."

Beca rolled her eyes, a common occurrence that night.

"So how is she doing?"

"She was doing great all year. It's too bad about what happened at the semi finals."

"What happened?"

"She missed them to... you know... so the captain kicked her out of the group."

"Wow that's such a shame. Beca you should talk to her and try to figure this out."

"I think you'd do a better job with Aubrey than I would," Beca grumbled.

"Oh I doubt Aubrey would listen to anything I have to say."

"Am I missing something here?" Chloe asked.

"Bruce slept with Aubrey," Beca said in a tone jokingly intended to match the emotion of a shocking reveal.

Chloe's jaw dropped.

"She told you?"

"No, but you just did," Beca smirked. She _loved_ outsmarting Bruce.

"I was completely joking when you brought it up before, how could you have possibly known?"

"You mean besides hearing her voice in the background when we were on the phone? She was acting too happy, she asked about you a few too many times, it wasn't exactly hard to put the pieces together. What surprises me is that you did it more than once. Is Batman developing feelings for a 22 year old college student?"

"Oh my god they'd be so cute together!" Chloe said excitedly, yet still understanding the humorous tone Beca used.

"She knows what we are. Great girl though, you should listen to her more often Beca."

* * *

"Well this was fun," Chloe said genuinely.

"It was wasn't it, thanks for behaving Bruce. Well, at least by your standards," Beca joked.

"Well you picked a good one Beca. In fact, I think I'd like to have a private word with her."

Beca didn't question it.

"Ok, I'll wait for you by the car."

Chloe let Beca get a safe distance away before speaking.

"So, is this the 'if I hurt her I'll hunt you down and destroy you' speech?"

"No, it's the concerned godfather speech."

"Concerned?"

"Not about you, about her."

"What do you mean?"

"You know Beca. She's... well she's Beca. She's going to look for an excuse for this to fail. When she does, promise me you won't let her get rid of you so easily."

"Don't worry Bruce, I'm not going anywhere."

"Good."

Chloe laughed.

"Something funny?"

"No, no. It's just... she thinks of you like you're some heartless monster. She definitely loves you, but she doesn't think you... feel things."

"I can't say I blame her. It's not easy to juggle the lives of innocent people with the people you care about. I tried my best, but I know I didn't always do the right thing. That night, it'll always be my biggest regret."

"Does she know that?"

"No."

"Do you plan on telling her."

"No, she's got her own life now and if whatever I did helped get her there then who am I to get in the way now."

"You really love her don't you?"

"She's like my daughter. I should have been there to protect her. I never wanted that life for her, but she was so insistent on being a hero. I know she's convinced herself otherwise, but it was what she wanted and I couldn't tell her no."

"She really should give you more credit. Even if you weren't perfect, I know how much you care."

"That's why I'm here tonight instead of working. I don't wan't her to be like me. I want her to be happy. Do whatever it takes Chloe, don't let her fuck it up."

"Don't worry Bruce, I won't."

Chloe started heading towards the car, but suddenly had an urge to say one more thing.

"And Bruce," she called out, waiting for him to turn around, "you should give Aubrey a chance. She really is a great girl."

With that she met Beca at the car.

"You're sure smiling big for someone who surely just got verbally ass kicked by Batman."

"There was no verbal ass kicking Beca."

"So what did happened?"

"He proved you wrong."


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for the delay everyone, real life and other stories got in the way here. I've seen at least two Avengers/Bechloe stories since my last update. Am I starting a trend? If so awesome, let's make everyone superheroes. Anyway, here's chapter 12. This'll probably go 14 or 15 chapters not including an epilogue.

* * *

"Beca wake up," Chloe said with a kiss on the cheek.

"No I'm tired. Let's stay in bed."

"As much as I'd love that honey it's 12:45 and we should probably wake up and see the world."

"You're the one who had me up until 5:00 AM."

"Oh like you're complaining," Chloe said suggestively, "now wake up and I'll make it worth your while."

"You'd better," Beca grumbled as she slowly arose, "I'm too tired, can you get things started?"

"With pleasure," Chloe smiled. As soon as she began her phone buzzed.

"It's Aubrey."

"Cock block," Beca complained.

"OH MY GOD!"

"What happened?"

"WE'RE IN THE FINALS!"

"Huh?"

"One of the people on the second place finishing team was ineligible so now we're in! Oh my god we have to start rehearsing right now!"

"You mean you have to start rehearsing."

"No I mean _we_ have to start rehearsing, you're on the team Beca."

"Not according to Aubrey. And by the way, we've been dating for a month and she still doesn't know. Even if she decided to let me back in I think that would put her over the top."

"Oh come on she doesn't hate you that- ok yea she really does."

"Exactly. Don't worry about it. Go."

"Only if you come with me."

"I'll think about it. Now go."

* * *

"Good so everyone's here."

"Well almost everyone," Fat Amy muttered inconspicuously.

"What's that supposed to mean."

"Yea what's that supposed to mean, whoever said it!" Fat Amy responded.

"Beca should be here," Chloe said.

"Aca-scuse me?"

"She makes us better. We need her."

"Chloe that's not an opinion for you to have."

"Why because it's not yours? You're not always right you know."

"We will win without her. Now come on, let's get to work."

Things escalated pretty quickly from there. Within minutes everyone was yelling at each other. Aubrey was vomiting, people were diving onto the floor fighting for the pitch pipe, needless to say Beca was surprised.

"What are you doing here? This is a Bellas rehearsal."

"I know... I umm... just wanted to say that I was sorry. For everything. I've been a pain in your ass for a while, and I'm sorry to all of you for not being there for you when you needed me."

"Beca don't-"

"No Chloe it's ok. I think you guys deserve to know the truth," Beca slowly lifted up her shirt to reveal bandages, "about a month ago, on the day of the semi finals, I was... attacked, and umm... I was in the hospital so I couldn't get to the semi finals. Chloe found out by accident the next day but I told her not to tell anyone."

"You knew?" Aubrey exclaimed. Chloe nodded.

"Yes Aubrey I knew. And I'm glad that I did because that's what led to us getting together."

"You're WHAT?"

"That's right Aubrey, we're together. And if you kick her out, you're kicking me out."

Chloe walked out as Beca followed, each dragging a chair behind them.

"Wait."

"Thank god that would have been embarrassing."

"I know that I've been hard on you. All of you. But I am my father's daughter. And like he used to say, if at first you don't succeed, then pack your bags."

"Wow, umm... I get it. My family gets on me too, but then you've met Bruce. I guess we don't really know each other too well."

Suddenly everyone started to go around in a circle and confess to old secrets. Stacie was a sex addict (not surprisingly), Cynthia Rose was both a lesbian and a gambling addict, Fat Amy was actually Fat Patricia, and once it was Beca's turn Chloe couldn't help but be curious about what she'd say. She wouldn't tell anyone her real secret would she?

"I've never been one of those girls who has a lot of friends who are girls. And now I am. And that's pretty cool. So that's me... somebody else please go."

As soon as the rest of the group made their revelations, Aubrey stood up.

"Beca," she said, beckoning her to stand up, "what do we do?"

* * *

The next several weeks went by fairly quickly. Beca, Aubrey and Chloe spent the time working tirelessly on a mix for the finals, and when they finally had something they'd be proud of they were ready to leave for New York. On the morning of the finals, the girls decided to have one last rehearsal.

"Ok everyone," Beca said, "I think we've rehearsed enough, but I want us to be warmed up before we go on. Aubrey, can you pick a song for us please?"

"Bruno Mars, Just the Way You Are."

"Ok then. Chloe, are you alright to take the lead?"

Chloe nodded, Beca was secretly pretty happy that she'd get to hear Chloe sing her this song. The mix went flawlessly, the girls were clearly prepared for the Finals. Even though they were set to perform that evening, they felt cautiously optimistic. They all started to pack up their things and head back to their hotel rooms to rest.

"Hey Chloe, you coming?"

"Just gimme a minute to take care of some things, I'll meet you upstairs ok?"

"Yea sure, Aubrey'll be up in our room. Don't be too long."

"Of course not, see you in a bit."

With that Chloe was left alone in the room as she packed up her bag. Suddenly a middle aged man entered the room. Something definitely looked off with him, there were scars on his face hidden by makeup, and those eyes definitely looked familiar.

"Excuse me Ms. Beale?"

"Yes can I help you?"

"I've been a big fan of the Bellas for years and I was wondering if I could get a picture with you?"

"Oh, of course!"

"Great, now let's put a smile on that face."


	13. Chapter 13

This chapter sets the stage. I could have made this the entire final chapter, but I decided to split it up to build suspense. I know, I know, I'm an asshole. But hey, my story, my rules.

* * *

"I don't get it, where is she?"

"It's been 30 minutes. She should be here by now."

"Try her cell again," Aubrey nodded as she reached for her phone. There was no response.

"I'm starting to get worried, we should go look for her."

"Yea I agree, let's go."

Before they even stood up, a manilla envelope slid under the door. Aubrey went to get it.

"It's a picture. Of Chloe and some... middle aged man."

"Wait let me see," Beca said, grabbing it. She examined it carefully. There was an address and a time on the back, but she wasn't quite sure what it meant. Then she took a closer look at the picture. It seemed familiar. The face was clearly coated in makeup and the hair looked like a wig. Whoever this was, he was trying to stay concealed.

"Is something wrong?" Aubrey asked.

"Maybe," Beca said we some concern. She looked into the eyes and they were definitely familiar.

"_No, no it couldn't be. Please god no._" she thought.

"Quickly! I need something red, a marker, lipstick anything!"

"Ok, ok hold on, here let me grab my lipstick."

Aubrey handed her the lipstick, which Beca immediately smeared onto the picture.

"What are you-"

"Quiet!"

She put the lipstick across the picture's mouth and up his cheeks. When she saw it now, with that big red smile staring her in the face, she knew what was really happening.

"Aubrey, I need you to follow my instructions EXACTLY, do you hear me?"

"Beca what's going on?"

"Just trust me. You need to do EXACTLY what I say or you'll be in serious danger."

"Ok, ok, just tell me what to do."

"I need you to call Bruce, tell him to be at this address," Beca scribbled the address from the picture onto Aubrey's hand, "RIGHT NOW! Every second counts. And tell him I sent him and that it's urgent, he'll know what that means. Then, I want you to get all of the Bellas together, NOBODY IS LEFT BEHIND, and call the police. Tell them you've gotten threats and need to be escorted to Lincoln Center and protected at all times. Is that clear?"

"Beca just-"

"AUBREY I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS IS EVERYTHING CLEAR?"

"Yes, yes now calm down."

"I can't calm down, no go, hurry."

Aubrey ran out of the room, still unsure of what exactly was going on. As soon as she was out of the room, Beca went into her suitcase and pulled out her emergency suit. The first lesson Bruce taught her was to always be prepared. You never know when you might need the suit, and even in her self imposed exile from crime fighting she kept it around just in case. She silently thanked God that she did, because she needed it now more than ever.

* * *

"I'm losing my patience clown."

"Is that a fact Batsy? We've only been at this for what, six weeks? We've spent months on these little interrogations in the past, and I've really grown rather fond of Arkham this time of year. So I think I'll just stay nice and quiet and watch you give yourself an aneurysm."

It was true. Batman had been interrogating the Joker for over a month to no success. Batman was dangerously close to completely losing his cool.

"Where are the chemicals Joker? Why did you have to get them from there?"

"Do you have the time?"

"Excuse me?"

"The time, do you have the time? Because I know today is the day, but I have to time this juuuuuuuuuuust right."

Batman grabbed the Joker by his collar and slammed him against the wall.

"You have three seconds to tell me what I want to know before I put you in another hospital bed."

"Oh come on I just got out of the last one."

"THAT'S IT!" Batman punched the Joker square in the jaw, but instead of wincing in pain or even reacting, a clear indentation of Batman's fist appeared right where he made the punch. Suddenly, the Joker's entire face started to morph into a brown blob.

"Clayface?"

"Gotcha."

With that, Batman dashed out of the room and into the Batmobile. Just as he turned it on his cellphone rang through the attachment to the car.

"Hello?"

"Bruce, it's Aubrey."

"I really can't talk now Aubrey."

"No, it's an emergency."

"Ok what is it?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Beca frantically told me to tell you to get to New York right now and go to 250 52nd Street, she said to tell you it was an emergency and that you'd know what to do."

"Ok, thank you Aubrey."

"Wait, Bruce, is something wrong?"

"Just... don't worry about it ok? I'm sure Beca told you what else you had to do."

"Yea, she did. I should probably go now."

"Wait, there's one more thing."

"Yea?"

"Stay safe Aubrey."

"You too Bruce," Aubrey said, not quite knowing what she meant.


	14. Chapter 14

Well... this is the end. I'm not quite sure how we got to this point, but it's been a fun ride and I want to thank all of you for taking it with me, especially you reviewers who made this process so much more fulfilling. There will be an epilogue to follow, but this is the end of the main story. Anyway, Enjoy!

* * *

"Access, Batgirl, 005."

"Access granted, Bargirl, 005."

With that the large electronic door slid open. Batman was nothing if not prepared. In case of emergency, he built several spare Batcaves throughout the country. In total, there were 11, one of which a mere four blocks away from Beca's hotel. She had her suit handy, but needed to arm herself if she planned on standing any kind of chance against the Joker. She stuffed her utility belt with everything that might be of value, being sure to leave no stone unturned. Once she was satisfied, she jumped on the Batcycle and drove.

The building she was looking for was several miles away, but due to her long standing practice of avoiding traffic laws and the civilian practice of clearing way for superheroes, she managed to make pretty good time. She parked one block south of the warehouse in question and headed for the fire escape facing the door to get a better view. From there, she saw four goons. They were dressed fully in black, not in the usual clown mask and purple garb the Joker's normal henchmen wore, and surprisingly none of them were holding guns. Beca waited a few moments to see if she could learn anything useful from them.

"Where is she? She should be here by now."

"You say that like you want her to come."

"I'm just saying we have a schedule to keep. She should be here by now."

"Yea, so we can get our asses kicked. Yay us. I mean honestly why don't we just let her in, we'd be saving a ton in hospital bills."

"If we fight her we end up with broken bones. If we let her in the boss kills us. Which sounds better to you?"

"True, but he could have at least let us have guns."

"The boss was explicit in saying that he wants her alive."

"Why do you think he'd ask for that? I mean it makes no sense."

"I guess he wants to do it himself."

"You don't think he actually wants to keep her alive?"

"Oh come on you've seen what's in there, there's no way she's surviving that. Same goes for the ginger."

Beca had heard enough. Normally she'd be discreet, knocking out the first two goons before the others knew she was even there. But this time she wanted to make a statement. With that in mind, she leapt from the fire escape with purpose and landed in front of the henchmen, who stood ready to attack.

"Ok assholes, listen and listen good," Beca said with her fiercest Batglare, "you can tell me what he has planned in there and step aside, or I can teach you the true meaning of the word pain."

"Sorry little lady, strict orders with the boss."

"Fine, just know that there isn't enough money in the world to earn what I'm about to do to you."

With that, Beca jumped into action. The first two were down in a matter of seconds. The third actually managed to throw a punch, which of course missed by a significant margin. Beca had him down soon after that, leaving only the fourth, scrawniest henchman. This was her shot, so Beca had to make it count. She lunged at him, pinning him to the ground with incredible force. Once he was down, she punched him several times in the face. When she was satisfied with the amount of pain he was in, Beca jumped up and picked him up with her. Then, she grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the wall.

"You think this is bad? This is NOTHING. I could stay here for hours, breaking every bone in your body, slowly, methodically, as painfully as humanly possible. Believe me, I've been trained. Or, I could just keep strangling you and let you die right here in this fucking alley. You want to walk away from here? Then you tell me EXACTLY what I want to know.

The man nodded, mouthing the word "ok."

"What's that? I can't hear you, you'll have to speak up."

"Ok," he said with what little strength he could muster.

* * *

Chloe's eyes slowly cracked open. The Joker gassed her quickly after grabbing her, but he had to be sure she'd be awake when Beca arrived. Surveying hey surroundings, she saw that she was seated in an uncomfortably unstable chair on a platform above a tank of what had to be acid. There was digital clock ticking down on the other side of the room, and a man in a purple suit approaching the tank.

"Oh good you're finally up. I was worried that you'd miss it."

"Miss what? Where am I?"

"Well before we get into the details I do believe introductions are in order. Well, that's really only a formality, since I've been watching you for quite some time and as I'm sure you're aware, I'm the man who haunts your girlfriend's nightmares. But as I am a man of manners, I should introduce myself. Please, call me Mr. J."

"Then I guess you can call me Chloe. What do you want with me?"

"Oh it's not you that I want something with. You're just the bait."

"For Batgirl?"

"Would you mind using real names? It makes this so much more... human."

"For Beca then?"

"Correct! By the way, you're so much more polite than the Batbitch. And beautiful too, quite a catch. I can see why she loves you so much. You know when all of this is over I could use a new Harley."

"Flattered but spoken for."

"Such a shame. Well, I guess we can revisit this when the events of the day have taken their course."

"And what's going to happen when they do?"

"I think I'll wait for your girlfriend before I explain. I really do like to avoid repetition when possible. Would you mind if I asked you a question? Well... it's not like you're in much a position to say no."

"Ask away."

"You seem... too confident. I like to instill fear in my captives. You're making this a lot harder than I would have liked."

To be fair, Chloe was scared. How could she not be? She could very easily die today, so could Beca. But she knew being a crying damsel in distress would do Beca no good when she did arrive. And deep down, she had faith. She believed in her heart that Beca would save here, even if the overwhelming odds told another story.

"I guess I just have faith in my girlfriend. She's going to beat you, I know it."

"Girl, I've gone toe to toe with the real Batman. I've killed a Robin and crippled the original Batgirl. Even if none of that were true, your girlfriend is out of practice and out of shape."

"Out of shape? Well you've clearly never been a part of an a capella group."

"I suppose I haven't, but the point is I'm no stranger to hunting bats. And today I get another to put on my mantle. Well, not a bat exactly, but this will all be made clear when your girlfriend arrives. And speaking of which," The Joker said as he heard his henchmen getting beaten, "that should be in just a few moments. So do try to savor the final few moments you get with her. Well, at least as you know her."

With that they waited the final few minutes in silence. They both quietly wondered what was taking her so long, as neither heard a body drop after the initial fury. Eventually, the door swung open to reveal a surprisingly calm Beca.

"Alright clown. I'm here."

"That you are my dear. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this."

"I can imagine," Beca said, taking her eyes off of the Joker and putting them squarely onto the tank. She approached it cautiously, placing a hand on it before looking up at Chloe.

"You like it? I'm really quite proud of what I've put together here."

"Of course you are," Beca said, keeping her eyes focused on the Joker while silently slipping an explosive onto the wall of the tank. For this to work she could never break eye contact, he had to fully believe he had her attention.

"So aren't you going ask me what my evil plan is?"

"I kind of assumed you'd just tell me, after all you love nothing more than being admired for you work," Beca took a few steps away from the tank and towards the Joker, silently dropping a few small pellets and waiting for the Joker to begin speaking before kicking them over to the tank.

"Well that's what I had in mind with this one. You see that lovely green bath tub I've placed beneath your girlfriend?"

Beca nodded.

"Well it's filled with something very special to me. A very rare, very dangerous kind of acid that I probably could have concocted on my own, but decided to take from Atlanta to give you a little scare," Beca nodded along, quietly kicking pellets towards the tank knowing that the Joker's vanity was her only real weapon.

"So what it is?"

"That, my dear girl is the very same chemical combination the Batman pushed me into all of those years ago. That is the acid that made me the Joker."

"And you're going to make me watch as you do the same to Chloe?"

"A tempting offer, but no, I have something much more fun planned. You see that latter on the edge of the tank?"

Beca nodded.

"You're going to climb up it, walk along the metal platform, and jump in. I'm going to turn Batsy's favorite little girl into a clown like me."

Beca was secretly horrified. This was a fate worse than death, but she had to keep her cool. Any misstep, any slip, and both she and Chloe were goners.

"Oh, and since I know you've been stalling, waiting for the big guy to show up and save the day, take a look at that timer over there. We're closing in on two minutes, and I was careful to time this just perfectly enough for him to see this without being able to stop it. He'll be here in five minutes. If you don't jump in quickly enough, Chloe falls. So I'd suggest you get moving. Oh, and if you have any ideas about stopping me, take one move and I kneecap you and throw you in myself," the Joker laughed as he pulled out a revolver.

Beca nodded, seemingly accepting her fate. She had one shot at this.

"I guess you win then, see? My hands are empty, I can't do anything. Just promise you'll let her go once I've done it."

"You have my word as a clown. Besides, I want her to see it."

"Ok."

Beca took a deep breath and climbed up the ladder, eventually standing on the edge of the metaphorical plank.

"Any last words?"

"Just one," Beca said with a smirk, "boom."

The explosives Beca had carefully placed near the tank all went off, cracking the glass and sending the green liquid shooting out. As quickly as it happened, Beca reached into her belt and grabbed her grappling gun. She shot it at the ledge at the end of the room and jumped, grabbing Chloe just before the platform collapsed. They reached the ledge and Beca quickly untied Chloe, hugging her tightly.

"Are you ok?"

"Fine, go get him!"

"Stay here!"

Suddenly they heard a gun go off.

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! If I can't win I'll at least make sure you lose."

Two more shots were fired in Chloe's direction, but Beca pushed her to the ground before leaping off of the ledge towards the Joker, careful to avoid the acid that was now beginning to eat away at the floor and walls. Her aim was flawless, hitting one of the few clean areas of the floor before jumping at the Joker. She knocked the gun out of his hand and started to beat him senselessly. With every punch he just laughed louder and louder.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS SO FUNNY? ANSWER ME!"

This just elicited more laughs. Clearly punches weren't doing the job. This was becoming far too familiar to Beca; the Joker kills people, she puts him away, and then he escapes and they start the dance all over again. She decided enough was enough. It was time to end this once and for all. She threw him to the ground and walked over to where his gun fell. She looked at it, pausing for only a brief moment before picking it up and walking back over to the kneeling clown. She pointed it directly at his temple and stared into his eyes one last time, determined to show him that she wasn't afraid any more.

"This is it Joker. No more graves will be filled because of you, no more innocent people will have their lives ruined, no one will have to live in fear any more. This ends tonight."

Suddenly the door swung open. Batman raced in, sensing the situation and stopping for fear of causing a sudden reaction.

"Beca stop, he's beaten."

"No, he's not. If I don't do this here and now he'll go to prison for six months and then break out. We'll be right back where we started. No one else will die because I was afraid to act."

"You've done enough. You've done all that we can do. We don't do that to our enemies."

"No, you don't. I'm not you Batman. I'm not going to sit back and wait for him to slaughter everyone I care about. If you want to call me a murderer then fine, but just know that you've murdered thousands by letting him live. At least my body count stops at one."

With that the Joker started laughing again, harder than ever.

"This is too great! This is better than I could have hoped! Before I hoped that Batman would have to see his little girl look like me. Now he gets to see his little girl become me. And I love it! Come on girl, do it. Kill me."

"If you insist," Beca said quietly, readying herself to pull the trigger.

"Beca stop!" All three looked at Chloe, who had climbed down from the ledge and was walking towards them.

"Please Beca, this isn't you. Believe me I want him gone just as much as you do, but this isn't the way to do it. You're not a killer. That's not the girl I love. I don't want to see you turn into something you're not, even if it's to protect me. Show him that you're better than that. Put the gun down."

Beca stood in contemplation for a moment before relenting, slowly lowering the gun. Batman placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm proud of you," Batman said somberly.

"Say that again at her funeral, I'm tentatively scheduling it for next April," the Joker laughed, "what, too soon? Come on we all know how this is gonna go down. Excuse me for being the one to say it. I'll be out in a few months, tops. And once I am, I'm going hunting. And I hear it's ginger season."

With that, Beca lost her temper. She kicked the Joker down onto his stomach and placed the gun squarely on his spine and fired.

"That's gonna be pretty hard if you can't walk," Beca spat, "so here's the new deal. You're going to Arkham, where you will stay for the rest of your life. If I hear that you've so much as leaned out of your wheelchair to reach for a book on the prison library shelf I come over there and put another bullet in your head. No Batman, no Chloe, no grand finale, just you rotting in a hole in the ground because you denied the one last chance I've given you to live. Is that clear?" Beca shouted, planting her foot squarely on his now broken spine.

"Crystal," he managed to squeak out.

Chloe squeezed Beca tightly.

"I really am proud of you. You saved me, and you didn't have to stoop to his level to do it. I love you."

"I love you too, now come on, let's get you home. I'm sure it's been an exhausting day."

"No."

"What?"

"Beca we have somewhere to be."

"You can't be serious."

"I am."

"Chloe I may not be a psychologist but even I know you had a pretty traumatic experience today. Don't you think that should be the focus?"

"No, it doesn't have to be. You saved me, just like I knew you would. Like you always will. You want to show him that you're not afraid? Then let's show him he can't stop us from living our lives and doing what we came here to do. Let's prove to him once and for all that we've beaten him by going out there and winning this thing."

"And you're sure about this?"

"100%"

"Ok, let's do it," Beca wasn't entirely sure, but right now Chloe was and she couldn't deny Chloe anything. If this was what Chloe thought she needed to do to get over what happened then so be it. Besides, it's not like her way did her any good the last time she was in this situation.

"Can you handle things from here?" Beca asked Batman.

"Yea, just go."

"Good, come on Chloe."

* * *

The race to Lincoln Center was definitely dramatic. They got in just under the wire, meeting the rest of the Bellas backstage just as the Trebles went on.

"Beca? Chloe? Are you guys ok?" Aubrey asked.

"Yea we're fine. And everyone else is here and ok?"

"Yea we're all here, I did what you asked, what happened?"

"We can't really explain," Chloe jumped in.

"Yea what she said, as long as everyone's ok."

"So are you sure you guys are ready to perform? I don't know where you're coming from but it was obviously not good."

"Trust me we're ready for this, we need to perform."

"Ok, if you're sure."

With that the Trebles finished and the announcer called out their names. Beca led the Bellas on stage as they took their places behind her. They were flawless from the start, seamlessly mixing the songs and choreography from several songs. It started with the opening of _Price Tag_, before mixing in songs like _Just the Way You Are_, _Don't You Forget About Me_ and more. Every girl had a moment to shine, and it was fairly obvious about half way in that they would win. Once they had the crowd hooked, Beca went in for the kill.

"I can't stand to fly

I'm not that naive

I'm just out to find

The better part of me."

The crowd went wild, the slower lyrics to _Superman_ fitting in perfectly with the faster music of the other songs.

"I'm more than a bird

I'm more than a plane

I'm more than some pretty face beside a train."

It was the best mix Beca had ever made. Everything fit together so perfectly, both musically and lyrically. The one flaw became apparent after the performance, when Beca and Chloe embraced each other in a kiss. Beca just couldn't identify with the song anymore. It _was_ easy to be her. She had friends who supported her, an admittedly unconventional family who loved her, no immediate need to worry about her safety and most importantly, she had Chloe.

"_As long as I have Chloe,_" Beca thought, "_it'll be pretty damn easy to be me._"


	15. Chapter 15

Well, here's the epilogue. It's weird to think that I'll never update this story again after this, but it was fun while it lasted. Thanks again for being such a great audience. And by the way, I don't have any major ideas so if anyone wants to shoot me prompts I'm open to it. Enjoy!

* * *

"Thank you for calling Bruce Wayne's office, this is Aubrey how can I help you?"

"Aubrey it's me," Beca laughed. She couldn't help but be surprised when Bruce offered Aubrey a job as his personal assistant after graduation. Well... personal assistant wasn't a fair title, that's just what they told the public. In fact, she was his all purpose business enforcer, used for everything from answering his phone to running business meetings when his... other job... interfered with running Wayne Enterprises. Nobody knew it, but she was in fact being groomed to replace Lucius Fox as CEO when he retired.

And as for their personal relationship? Well... Beca tried not to bark up that tree. All she knew was that they were both happy with whatever arrangement they'd set up. Except for the occasional sobbing phone call about how he'd forgotten their 17-week anniversary, Aubrey and Bruce had actually managed to form some semblance of a stable relationship.

"Oh hey Beca! What's up?"

"Everything. Ugh, I don't know how Chloe does it. Every day something new piles on."

"Well cheer up, it's only a few days away now. I can't wait to see you guys!"

"I know, as stressful as all of this is I really can't wait. It's going to be great to see everyone. So how are you and Bruce?"

"Pretty good actually. He actually remembered the anniversary of our first real date!"

"How many anniversaries do you have?"

"By his standard or mine?"

"Now I want to hear both."

"He says one, I say 27. I let the occasional missed one slide because of his... line of work, but we've found a nice compromise."

"Well that's great. Anyway, I really do need to talk to him so could you patch me through?"

"He's actually not in the office right now but he only left a few minutes ago. He should still be in the car though so I'll send it through."

"Great, thanks Aubrey, see you this weekend."

With that Beca waited in silence for the phone call to go through. Normally she wouldn't blame Bruce for missing the occasional call, but this was getting ridiculous. He'd been avoiding her for days and she had to know why. Suddenly he heard his voice over the phone.

"Hello?"

"I know you're busy so I'll try to make this quick: are you coming or not?"

"Maybe."

"Seriously Bruce? I don't need a maybe, I'm getting married on Saturday and I'd kind of like you to be there to walk me down the aisle."

"You know why I can't commit to this. Dick can do it."

"That's not the same and you know it. Look Bruce, you've missed plenty of things over the past 22 years, but you are not missing my wedding. Is that clear?"

There was no response.

"I said is that clear?"

"I'll see what I can do."

And with that, he hung up, leaving a very frustrated Beca on the line.

* * *

"So what'd he say?"

"Guess."

"Umm... he's on Mars and won't be back for eight weeks?"

"Worse."

"He's decided to give up his crime fighting career to become a buddhist monk which prohibits him from attending our wedding?"

"Worse."

"Come on Beca just tell me!"

"He said 'maybe.' I mean really Chloe? Maybe? At least if he would have said no I could find someone else to walk me down the aisle and be done with it, but no, he HAS to hold out until the last second."

Beca slumped frustratedly on to the couch.

"Come on Beca cheer up," Chloe pouted, "don't make me tickle you."

"Not the time Chloe."

But it was too late, that one-of-a-kind mischievous Chloe smile was already forming. Before Beca had a chance to get out of the way Chloe jumped her.

"Stop hahahaha. Please hahahahaha. Chloe I'm serious hahahaha!"

"Not until you agree to smile," Chloe laughed.

"Ok, ok hahahahaha. You win hahahahaha. I'll be happy ok hahahahaha."

"Good girl," Chloe said, releasing Beca from her grasp. She wasn't lying, Beca really did smile.

"Hey Chloe?"

"Yes Beca?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For tickling me when I'm sad. You make me smile no matter how much I want to frown. You have a lot of amazing qualities, but that's the best one. I love you."

"I love you too," Chloe said before kissing Beca lightly on the lips.

* * *

"Hey there little sis."

Beca turned around in her dressing room to see Dick waiting at the door.

"Dick? Oh my god I wasn't sure if you were coming!"

"Please, like I'd miss your wedding. Who do I look like, Bruce?"

With that Beca just looked down at the ground.

"Ok I sense that I just struck a nerve. So I take it you've heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Hang on."

Dick grabbed the remote and turned on the television in the corner of the room.

"_Gotham National Bank is under siege, the Riddler has led a group of robbers who are currently inside. Reports indicate that the Batman is in pursuit-_"

With that Beca shut it off.

"I ask for one day out of him, one freaking day."

"Cheer up, I'm sure he'd be here if he could."

"I guess. Thanks for being here Dick, it means a lot."

The two hugged tightly before Dick took a moment to admire Beca.

"You really do look great you know. Chloe's a lucky girl."

"Thanks. I think I'm the lucky one though."

"Yea you're probably right, I'm not sure why anyone would marry you."

Beca playfully punched Dick in the arm.

"Ow! Jeez Beca I was kidding!"

"Yea, yea."

"Come on, let's go get you married."

* * *

Dick led Beca to the doors of the church, stopping just short waiting for his cue to lead her inside.

"Last chance to run, I've got the car waiting around the corner."

"I'm so sure of this that I'm not even gonna make a sarcastic comment."

"Good, so I guess now would be a good time to give you your wedding present."

"My wedding present? What the-"

Suddenly, Beca felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Beca turned to see Bruce standing in front of her. She pulled him in for a hug as soon as she realized what was going on.

"But how are you- the Riddler-"

"Martian Manhunter owed me a favor. How could you really think I'd miss your wedding? Aubrey would have killed me if I didn't come."

"Well this little charade you two cooked up certainly didn't help."

"It was all Dick's idea. We thought we'd try to make your wedding day a little more special."

"And since when do you indulge his need for practical jokes?"

"After seeing the look on your face I'd say it was worth it. Now come on, you don't want them to think you ran away."

With that their arms linked and they walked through the doors. Bruce's presence elicited a small gasp from those who didn't know he would be attending, but she really didn't care. In her mind all that mattered was the beautiful woman in the white dress waiting for her at the altar.


End file.
